Survival
by davestridersjunk
Summary: Elected to compete against other schools in a challenge of survival, Draco and Hermione must learn how to work together, or die trying.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

The first thing you'll probably realise is that this sounds a lot like the Tri-Wizard tournament and the Hunger Games. It's neither of them, but it is similar! I'm not a big fan of the Hunger Games, but I admit that parts of it inspired me. It was more the Tri-Wizard tournament that gave me ideas, though. I watched it the other day and I've always felt like it's the most magical of the eight films. I have no idea why.

Okay, I'm also very nervous about starting this fic because the chapters are going to be much longer than I usually write and because I'm trying out a new writing sytle... it's going to be a lot more descriptive and... metaphor-y. You know what I mean? I hope you do...

For anyone who's wondering, I deleted my story **Blaze **because, as much as I wanted to post that whole story, it isn't very... developed yet, and this idea is much more developed and it's closer to being finished than **Blaze**, so, in case you wondered where that's gone, that's why and where.

So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the story!

**Soundtrack: **Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

* * *

_3rd June._

"I wonder what Dumbledore's going to announce today," Harry said thoughtfully, his gaze rising to the ceiling. Hermione nodded eagerly beside him, voicing her thoughts.

"Perhaps it's just about the confusion surrounding seventh years," She said. Ron looked a little excited- he thought it was going to be something exciting and totally cool, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. Plus, unless he was going to announce that they could take more classes and that there would be more exams, nothing would be considered 'cool' to her.

Harry shook his head, frowning as his spoon stopped in mid-air on the way to his mouth. His red jelly wobbled slightly. "I don't think so. He already cleared that up last week, and plus, he looks… kind of excited," Harry said in a worried tone. They all took a moment to look up at their head teacher, who had that glint in his eye beneath half-moon spectacles.

Ron shuddered a little. "I don't like it when he's got that look in his eye,"

The other two nodded in agreement.

"What if he's going to give us into trouble for something?" Hermione asked in horror, biting her lip. Her brown eyes were wide.

Ron piped up. "What if he's gonna give out medals for the war or something?"

Harry and Hermione both shook their heads, giving him a funny look.

"He'd have to give everyone a medal then," Hermione said, looking between them. Harry swallowed his jelly with a painful expression before replying again. "Plus, that was ages ago. If he'd wanted to give out some sort of medal- wouldn't he have done it sooner?"

Ron's bottom lip vibrated as he sighed with his lips touching slightly. It made a funny 'brrrr' noise. "I got no idea then,"

Hermione's eyebrows rose and she nodded once to the teachers tables. "We might find out now, look, he's getting up," Her gaze locked onto Dumbledore and she followed his every move until he set both of his hands on the outspread eagle in front of him and bellowed for everyone to be quiet. He'd told all of the students the previous morning that he had an extremely important announcement to make and that everyone should make sure to be present during dinner.

Hermione strained her ears as the noise quietened, but didn't fully go away until a full minute afterwards. She caught the end of someone's conversation and realised that her, Harry and Ron weren't the only ones confused about what Dumbledore was going to announce. Everyone was probably confused, actually. He hadn't given any notion of what it could be about.

"First of all," He began in a happy tone. "I'd like to welcome and congratulate all of the new seventh years who have decided to continue your education. I gave you a month to elect whether or not you wanted to remain in education and now I believe we have our final year, therefore, I welcome you,"

There was clapping for a moment before Dumbledore continued. Hermione looked around to see exactly who had come back- she recognised all of the faces, but was saddened to see that there were only a handful of them that had returned.

"The seventh floor is out of bounds and the main staircase is still under reconstruction, so we ask that you take care of yourself and others if you take that route. We'll also start a countdown today for the fifth year exams that will be held in October. We are aware it is quite some time until autumn, but this is in case anyone wishes to begin a study plan right now."

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. Her weakness was her curiosity and Dumbledore must've known that because damn, he was taking a long time to get to the point. Taking a glance to her right, she realised that Harry was also eager to find out the news- his hand was curled up into a fist on the table. She calmed down, momentarily, to put a hand on his wrist. He looked up at her, snapping out of some sort of gaze and noticeably relaxed, thanking her with a grin.

That was Hermione- always helping others, never helping herself. She felt a little better though, to know that at least Harry was relaxed now.

"Now, for the rather large announcement," –At this, Hermione stiffened in her seat and rubbed her lips together. Good _God_, what was going on?! - "I am ecstatic to announce that Hogwarts has been chosen to host a magical challenge that has been around for centuries. Due to our redecoration of the castle, the ministry thought it best to show off the work we've done to patch the castle back together. Now, I bet you all are wondering what this magical challenge is," Dumbledore teased.

"It is similar to the Tri-Wizard tournament, however, it is not nearly as dangerous and although similar, it is not the same. From each school, two students will be chosen to represent their school, classmates, and houses. The students must be of the same age and from different houses. No exceptions. These two students must work together to eliminate their opponents, but as simple as that sounds, it will not be easy. There will be more than just rivals that stand in your way. You need not enter yourself- every student has equal chance of being chosen. However, if you do not wish to participate, see me after this evening, and your name will be withdrawn. Similar to the Tri-Wizard tournament, this challenge is not for the fainthearted and will require every piece of focus, intelligence and common sense that you hold. You must work together, if you are chosen. If you choose to work apart, one of you risks being eliminated, which means Hogwarts will not win. If your partner is eliminated, then so are you, so take care of your partner as you would take care of yourself,"

Hermione turned to Harry with wide eyes. "I wasn't expecting this," She finally admitted in a rushed breath. For once, Ron was correct. It was something exciting and cool. Harry nodded absentmindedly beside her, only hearing half of what she'd said. He was focused on Dumbledore's words.

"The two students will be chosen tomorrow morning. If your name is chosen and you decide that you no longer wish to take part, you may step aside, and someone else will replace you. You will have to fend for yourselves, but we will keep in contact with you and wish you the very best of luck. Is there any questions?" He asked, his gaze travelling from Slytherin to Ravenclaw.

Someone's hand thrust into the air and he nodded towards them, granting them permission to speak.

"So, sir," The boy began, sounding a little unsure. "What exactly _is_ the challenge?"

Dumbledore's eyes glinted. "It is a challenge of survival. Unfortunately, this opportunity is only open to sixth and seventh years. There was some… debate about offering it to fifth years, but they have exams to focus on and fourth years are simply too young," His eyes seemed to travel to Harry. "We certainly don't want a repeat of the Tri-Wizard tournament, so if you are too young and are chosen, you will simply be removed," His voice turned a little stern.

"You'll be given more information tomorrow morning when the other schools arrive. Now, pip, pip," He finished, moving back to his seat.

Hermione's stomach turned a little uneasily. She really wasn't sure about this and was close to going up after him and asking for her name to be removed. Her course of thought was interrupted, however, when she looked at her favourite teacher –McGonagall- and saw that she was smiling. If this was going to be a disaster, surely McGonagall would've looked worried, right? Plus, there were hundreds of sixth and seventh years. The chances that her name was chosen was… unlikely. It would probably be Harry again, in fact. He seemed to be chosen for everything. Or maybe it would be Ron…

But it certainly wouldn't be _her_.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione couldn't walk by a group of people without being reminded about this mysterious challenge.

It was _everywhere. _People were talking about it, other students were arriving, and there was even a banner up on the wall that declared it.

Not only was the description of the challenge extremely vague, but Dumbledore had also failed to mention just _how many _schools were taking part of this. For the Tri-Wizard tournament, only three people were supposed to be chosen, but there had to be more than three schools sitting in the hall now.

Hermione knew the uniform of Beauxbatons Academy and she also knew what the boys from Durmstrang looked like. They were there, of course, but there were more uniforms than that. One group of people were enveloped in silky green robes with the hoods pulled up. They looked like an extremely emerald version of the grim reaper.

Another group of people –mostly girls- wore a pink coloured uniform and their faces were so perfect that Hermione immediately thought of dolls. Not just any doll, though. The ones that were made by people who took extra time and care into making sure they looked as presentable and real as possible. Looking at them for too long made Hermione feel like shuddering.

Then there was a group of boys and girls who wore a completely black uniform. The only thing that was colourful about them was their ties and they all wore sullen, dark expressions. She briefly heard Ron mutter something to Harry about how they could at least look happy that they were magic and she nodded distractedly at him, her mouth closed in a tight line as she took in the rest of the students that had gathered in Hogwarts.

They took a seat near the back of the hall. Some students had to stand because there weren't many seats, but they managed to find some that Neville had saved for them. Hermione smiled her thanks and sat on the table instead; letting Harry sit on her feet as there wasn't much room. He tried not to squish her, but she insisted that he wasn't heavy at all. They all sat and chatted whilst waiting on Dumbledore announce the chosen students.

"I bet it'll be Harry," Neville grinned jokingly as they discussed who might be chosen. Harry shook his head and smiled.

"I don't think it'll be me," He said unsurely, squinting. He shifted himself on Hermione's feet slightly. "I don't have that feeling,"

Neville nodded understandingly, but he was still smiling. He nodded to Ron, who had been excited about everything all morning. "Maybe it'll be Ron then. Finally his time to shine or somethin',"

Seamus laughed beside him. "He doesn't need to shine with hair tha' colour,"

Everyone chuckled, but Ron puffed out his chest. "I hope it is me,"

Hermione smiled at him slightly. "I hope it's you as well, Ron," She said. He wanted to do it, and nobody else had voiced their desire to take part, so she genuinely hoped it would be him.

Ron beamed at her. "If it is me, I'll make sure I win," He said, a determined expression on his face.

"You'll have to take good care of your partner then," Ginny reminded with a grin.

Ron nodded. "I will," He said. "As long as it isn't someone horrible, like…" He looked around the hall. "Crabbe," He said with a disgusted expression. Everyone around their table laughed, but Luna looked dreamy.

"No, no, it isn't Crabbe that'll be chosen," She said. They promptly shut up, looking at her as if she already knew who was going to be chosen.

"How do you know that, Luna?" Harry asked carefully. Luna shrugged, smiling in a daze.

"The teachers didn't explain _how_ one was chosen, but even if it's random, I doubt Crabbe's name will be picked out," She replied.

Hermione nodded in agreement, her brown eyes hardening. "Luna's right. If the teachers get to _choose_ which two students go to the challenges then they'll choose someone smart and fast and… and someone with common sense," said Hermione, thinking back to Dumbledore's words yesterday. Everyone around her seemed to think for a moment before quietly agreeing.

A teasing grin came over Seamus's face. "Hey maybe it'll be-"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore roared. It wasn't clear how loud the hall was until you heard everyone be quiet at the sound of his voice. After the last person spoke and the hall was filled with a wave of quietness, he smiled.

"Firstly- welcome to Hogwarts!" He said, holding his arms out. "I assume you are all quite impatient to find out who will be representing your school, and if we've all heard the terms and conditions, then we can begin now," said Dumbledore, almost in a questioning tone. He was silent for a few moments, as if waiting for someone to disagree.

When nobody did, he carried on. "Brilliant," He smiled. It was clear he himself was excited about this. "From the Academy of Wiltcheshire: Nora Montez and Harold Bailey! Well done. Yes, yes, come out to the front," He beckoned with his hand as they looked unsure of what to do. Once they were standing behind him, everyone clapped and they bowed, waiting awkwardly for the clapping to stop. The girl had long, curly brown hair and the boy was tall with side-swept brown hair. They both looked extremely beautiful, but shy.

"From Durmstrang: Jack Georgia and Aleksandar Richmond!"

There was more clapping, and Hermione leaned down an inch to reach Harry's ear so that she could speak to him underneath the noise of everyone else.

"Are you going to resign if you get chosen?" She asked wearily. He turned to look at her and shook his head.

"No. Are you?"

Hermione bit her lip. She had to confess- whilst Dumbledore had been speaking, she had not listened and was worrying over the challenge instead. Dumbledore had said that it wasn't dangerous, but it wasn't for the fainthearted either. That made her cautious and a little frightened. She scrunched up her nose at Harry.

"I might," She said in a terrified tone. He smiled and rubbed her knee through her thick, woollen navy tights.

"You went through a war- you have nothing to be afraid of," said Harry, taking in her scared face and voice. She smiled at him back, but wasn't completely reassured. Her stomach was in knots and she wrapped her hands around each other. She had an incredibly bad feeling, but didn't want to back out if she was chosen. Plus, there was a prize at the end and the teachers wouldn't choose her unless they were absolutely certain that she could do it, right?

Still, she was afraid.

"And finally, from Hogwarts," Dumbledore began. Hermione's heart pounded so loud she could hear it in her ears and she found herself reciting: _please not me. Please not me. Please not me. Please not me. _

"Draco Malfoy!" Dumbledore announced. Hermione's eyes involuntarily searched for the blonde and she found his pleasantly surprised face quickly –that hair of his- he got up and wandered to the front whilst everyone clapped for him as well. Hermione grumbled at the happy looking people from other schools- clearly they were unaware of how foul he was.

"And Hermione Granger!"

At her thoughts of Draco, she had become momentarily distracted. Her heart jumped and her stomach flipped- she was chosen. That was why she had felt bad all morning, because she'd had a weird feeling that it was her. Everyone was silent until she reluctantly got up once Harry had moved from her feet. Once she was making her way down to the front, everyone clapped for her as well. She took a place between Draco and a dirty-blonde haired boy and clasped her hands tightly in front of her, trying to smile.

"Now," Dumbledore turned away from the other students and faced the ten students. "If there are any of you who would prefer not to participate, I ask you to speak up now," He looked at them seriously.

_Quick, Hermione! Now's your chance! Tell him you don't agree and everything will be alright! _

"Fantastic!" exclaimed Dumbledore with a grin. "And remember: trust no one."

After announcing the names of the chosen students once more, they were ordered to enter the trophy room whilst Dumbledore announced some things to the remaining students. They walked in quietly and everyone had someone to talk to except from Hermione.

They all wandered off in their pairs, speaking and gazing at the trophies in the room. They seemed excited and a little proud, making Hermione feel extremely out of place. She glanced at Draco, hovering near the door with his eyes closed and his head rested back against the wall. She frowned- what was he thinking about? It unnerved her that he looked so calm.

She sighed, the knots returning in her stomach. They got so bad that she actually felt the urge to cry. It was Harry that was cut out for this kind of stuff- not her. She preferred to be on the side-lines, behind the scenes. It was safer there.

"Hi!" A dark-skinned boy stood in front of her with his hand outstretched. She took it politely and smiled, returning his greeting.

"Nervous, eh?" He asked, showing off pearly white teeth as he noticed her shaky hands. She nodded, letting out a breath. _Finally,_ someone she could talk to!

"Petrified," She admitted. "You?"

"I am nervous too, but more excited," He said, and he _looked_ excited. He had a bounce in his step that she envied. How could he be excited? They could be hurt in this challenge!

The boy turned slightly and gestured to a girl behind him with long, vibrant red hair. "This is my partner, Abigail, and my name is Rufus," He bowed to her. Hermione grinned at his refreshing manners and curtseyed back, finding it the appropriate thing to do.

"I'm Hermione," She smiled. The boy looked a little surprised.

"That's a nice name, so complicated to say," He looked away for a second, as if memorising it in his head.

"It is nice to meet you, Hermione," He attempted. She nodded at him eagerly, her caramel curls bouncing around her shoulders.

She realised she was missing something. "Oh! That's my partner," She pointed, with her index finger, over to Draco, who still had his eyes closed. "His name is Draco Malfoy,"

"Draco," Rufus tested, letting the name roll off of his tongue.

Grimacing, Hermione realised that the challenge wasn't her worst predicament, having to work with _him_ would prove to be worse. There was no way she would work with him, and he wouldn't want to work with her either, that was a fact. Dumbledore must've been crazy to pair them up.

Then again, they _were_ the smartest…

Okay, she admitted, she could see why Dumbledore had chosen them, but he still must've been absolutely _mad. _They were already enemies- there was no need to even put them in a team.

Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts as Draco strolled towards her and Rufus, a hard, cold stare on his face. Hermione almost whimpered inside- oh God, he was starting to become a prat already. She could just see that look on his face.

"Granger, stop fraternizing with our opponents," He said in a disappointed and disgusted tone. When she stared back at him, dumbfounded, he rolled his grey eyes and grabbed the fabric of her jumper, pulling her away from the boy. She protested until he dragged her over to the door –where he previously stood- and was even close to punching him again. When he let go of her, he cringed and wiped his hand on his trousers, as if her muggle-born-ness coated his long, pale fingers.

He leaned against the door again and closed his eyes as if he had done nothing wrong.

"Uh, excuse me!" Hermione exclaimed. "You cannot just drag me away from a conversation like some- some child!"

"I didn't drag you away from a conversation, I dragged you away from someone who was trying to find your weaknesses," He said lazily, not even bothering to look at her. Hermione frowned- that was absurd! The boy had been so nice, and Malfoy hadn't uttered a word to him, so how would he know anyways?

"You're mistaken-"

"Am I?" interrupted Draco in a calm voice. "Think about it," He offered.

She most certainly would not think about it- and especially not under his command.

"I have thought about it, thank you very much and I've come to the conclusion that he _wasn't_ trying to find out my weaknesses!" She growled, her brown eyes glinting with a fiery cinnamon.

In a flash, Draco snarled and grabbed her shoulder painfully. He leaned down so that his face was level with hers spat:

"Listen here, you treacherous little Mudblood. If he finds out your weaknesses, then he finds out mine and then we're both fucked and we don't win. Do you want that? Could you deal with that?" he began to taunt. "Losing? Not winning? Coming last, or maybe even fourth? Could you live with it?" He smirked, knowing that _now_ he'd gotten her attention. She noticeably looked away in thought and then frowned, shoving his hand away from her shoulder.

After a moment, she looked up at him with raised eyebrows and folded her arms over her chest. "You know, Malfoy," began Hermione in a smooth tone. "You really should learn some social skills," She said, before walking off with a swing of her hips. His smirk dropped from his face and his nostrils flared angrily. That stupid little girl was going to end up getting herself killed.

He knew for a fact that the boy was up to nothing good- he'd overheard him muttering about how they should _analyse _their opponents to see which ones were the toughest and then take them out first. He rolled his eyes to that as well- that was not how you won something. You didn't 'take out' the toughest, you had to trick them, play them at their own game and make them taste their own medicine. It wasn't as simple as 'taking them out.'

And now, because his idiotic partner had fucked off with some good actor of a boy –or maybe it was the fact that she couldn't read through façade's- he would lose. He would lose, and he would look like a fucking idiot, all because of her.

If he didn't need her to win, he would've let her fuck off with some other guy, but he _did_ need her, and the way she was going, she would be eliminated in the first round, also eliminating him. He shook his head at her nonsense- she, like always, saw this as an opportunity to make friends. She'd even forgotten, or just ignored, Dumbledore's advice to not trust anybody.

She couldn't trust him on a regular day, true, but she _could_ trust him around people that she didn't even fucking know.

As he quietly stewed in his own anger, he watched as she shook hand after hand, smiling and tucking her stupid mousy brown hair behind her ear. She didn't even realise that most of the girls looked her up and down –most likely noting her height- and then licked their teeth as if to say that she'd be 'an easy one.'

And, as long as they were partners, he fucking had to take care of her, didn't he? And clearly she was the stupid one in their team, so he also had to think for her as well.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he walked up behind her, pressing his body right against hers and smiled sweetly to the blonde haired girl who'd just looked her up and down. He held his hand out to the girl, giving her his most dazzling smile. He felt Hermione take a step away from him- she probably found the closeness uncomfortable.

"Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy," He began. The girl raised an eyebrow seductively and shook his hand. Inside, mentally, he grinned. She'd already fallen for his charm.

Suddenly, the grin dropped off of his face. "And I don't like it when people wear masks," He said in a dark tone, squeezing her hand harder than necessary. She hissed and looked down, ripping her hand away from his. He dared her, with his eyes, to deny it, but she didn't. She smiled at Hermione and then walked away, rubbing her hand.

Hermione whipped around to face him. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing? She was nice!"

Draco rolled his eyes. Was this bitch so stupid that she didn't even _notice_ the look that other girl had given her? "She looked at you like you were a piece of meat, Granger, fucking get that mind of yours into gear. Don't you remember what Dumbledore said? Trust no one. Treat the lot of them like you treat me until they _prove_ that they're worthy of a handshake. You're bloody lucky I even came over here before you started gossiping and dishing out information," He angrily said.

Hermione's eyes popped out of her head at how fast he was speaking. "You don't even know them! You didn't speak to one of them, how the hell would you know if they were mean or not?"

"Because I fucking _am_ them! I listen to all the shit everybody says and keep it hidden in a box in my mind until I find a good use for it. You tell them nothing about yourself, you hear me? They can analyse anything you say and before you know it, they're able read you like a fucking book!"

Hermione folded her arms across her chest, looking into his stormy molten eyes. "So you admit that you analyse everything people say to you and then use it against them?" She asked, giving her own little victory smirk when he realised that he'd told her his secret, his eyes widening a little.

He ran a hand through his blonde tresses out of stress, messing it up. "I'm a Slytherin," was his only excuse. "It's what I do," was his second one. None of them seemed good enough, so he scrunched up his nose in a sneer. "And it'll fucking save our lives out here, so just remember that," He finished, finding that he'd given her enough excuses.

Hermione rolled her eyes and was about to heatedly retort before Dumbledore walked in. He skipped down the steps –something that weirdly, didn't seem to break one of his old, fragile bones- and gestured for all of the students to come closer. Everyone formed a sort of semi-circle around him.

Dumbledore's eyes glinted. "I hope you're all ready,"

* * *

I done a poll on my profile asking what Draco personality you guys enjoyed the most. So far, Romantic Draco and Stubborn Draco are in the lead. Extremely clever Draco and angry Draco also have a lot of votes, so this is what Draco's character will be like in this story. He'll be stubborn, angry, annoying, cunning, clever and absolutely bloody brilliant, but he'll be a romantic as well. In later chapters, at least...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**-FallenForTheDraco**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback for the last chapter! I'm so glad that most of you enjoyed it!

**Soundtrack: **Signs by Bloc Party

* * *

"Now, all of you will be taught Archery, Astronomy, basic Home Economics, Charms, Potions and basic survival skills," said Dumbledore. Hermione licked her lips, her hand shooting into the air cautiously. The other contestants turned to look at her with raised eyebrows, but Draco was used to this.

"Sir- why will we be taught Astronomy?" She asked curiously. His eyes twinkled and he replied in an obvious tone,

"Why, in case you get lost," He replied wittily. "But there is a twist- you will choose three things to study, and your partner will choose the remaining three. Together, you must bind your knowledge if you wish to have a chance of winning. I'll let you discuss now which subjects you wish to study,"

"I'm taking potions," Draco said immediately. He was best at potions- probably even better than her, so she understood why he had said that straight away.

Hermione nodded. "I'll take Astronomy and charms. That just leaves-

"Three left." Draco finished. He breathed in once. "I'll take Archery and basic survival skills as well. That leaves you will Home Economics," He said.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Are you being sexist?"

He frowned. The hell was she on about? "What?" He snapped, his teeth clenched together tightly. Hermione looked livid.

"You think just because I'm a woman I should cook?"

Draco rolled his eyes. The beaver was so fucking insufferable. "No, you dolt, I'm already good enough at potions that I don't need to work on it for long which means I have more time to work on Archery and survival skills. I know you shake when you get nervous so there's no way you could deal with a bow and arrow and I know that if you have to learn two new subjects then you won't have as much time to study on survival skills," He said.

Hermione backed down. That was actually a good explanation…

"Fine," She bit out. She burned underneath everyone's stare when she realised that it had taken her and Draco double the time to figure out what they were choosing. The others had taken seconds.

Great, at this rate, they would fail.

"Grand!" exclaimed Dumbledore. "Each lesson will be an hour long. You may write notes to study, but once the challenge has begun, the only thing you will be allowed is a wand. No study material will be allowed. Tomorrow, we will have a feast to celebrate the beginning of the challenge. When you wake up and prepare yourselves, it truly begins. Also, we did not want to begin the challenge tomorrow because, as you may or may not know, it is Draco Malfoy's birthday tomorrow," He said, smiling at Draco. Everyone turned to look at him, but he kept his gaze on Dumbledore let one end of his lips flicker upwards for a second. He was so fast that Hermione didn't even notice- but Dumbledore did.

"Now, the rules of the competition are simple. Whoever survives the longest, wins. This does not mean, though, that you have to kill each other. This is just a game- an illusion, if you will. If you die in the challenge, you do not really die. You will remain healthy and unscathed, but you and your partner will be disqualified. You will come across items that will aid you. They will always be related to what you have studied, so please, try and pay attention to what you learn in class. You were all chosen because you have great minds- but you were also chosen because you are _alike._ Your abilities match each other, to the very core. I can verify that every single one of you has tough competition," Dumbledore said. Everyone nodded to him.

Alike? Was Dumbledore on drugs? Draco Malfoy and she were not _alike! _They were complete opposites. Everything _but _alike.

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to sparkle a little. "Enjoy tonight and tomorrow." He said, and with a dramatic twist, he had completely disappeared.

Just as he left, McGonagall bounded down the stairs carefully with a small smile on her face. She nodded once towards Hermione and Draco.

"I trust you two know how to get back to your houses," She said politely to the two of them. Blonde and brunette nodded and walked by her as she introduced herself to the other contestants.

When Hermione finally touched down on the last step, she hovered awkwardly. Should she say goodbye to Malfoy? They weren't really on speaking terms, but what if, after she'd left, he turned around and spoke to her, thinking that she was behind him?

She ended up shrugging, her decision made. Her curls bounced as she walked by him and she swore she could almost feel him sneering into the back of her head. She contemplated turning around and glaring at him, but once she saw Harry and Ron, all thoughts were totally dispelled from her head and all she could feel was fear once again as she collapsed onto a chair near them.

Like a swarm of warms, everyone surrounded her immediately, pestering her with questions. Neville was the only quiet person, actually. Even Ginny ignored her irritated stare and constantly asked her things.

She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly. _Make them all be quiet, please…_

She waited a few moments before even did quieten down. Harry placed his hand gently onto her bicep, not wanting to startle her. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

Hermione sighed and nodded, taking a large breath. "Yes. I'll be fine," She tried to smile convincingly, but had a nagging feeling that she'd failed at that after watching Harry's doubtful stare.

"So… tell us all about it," Ron said, his head shaking in excitement. His red hair flicked in every direction.

Hermione licked her suddenly dry lips. "We have to win against the other schools. We'll be taught subjects that will help us win," replied Hermione in a shaky voice. Her mind had suddenly gone blank- she couldn't remember anything. She desperately tried to hold onto a memory –any of them- but all she could see was Dumbledore's blurry face. She frowned disapprovingly to herself- she was beginning to worry and panic. That wasn't good.

"I don't really understand it," Ron said, scrunching up his nose in confusion. Ginny laughed beside him and began to explain.

"Did Malfoy hurt you?" asked Harry in concern. His hard tone stunned Hermione and her eyes immediately flicked to his green ones. She shook her head.

"No, no it's not Malfoy," She said eventually. "I just don't know if I really even want to do this,"

"Then why didn't you say something?" Harry asked, frowning. He glanced up at the front of the hall, looking for Dumbledore, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe we could talk to him- he'll let you resign,"

"No," Hermione responded quickly. She waved her hand around. "It's fine," More waving. "I'll just… deal with it,"

The raven haired boy pressed his lips together and nodded after a moment of looking at his friend. "Alright, I'm here if you need me," He rubbed her back for emphasis.

"So… She's gonna be alone… with Malfoy… in the woods?" Ron asked slowly and carefully. Ginny grimaced- she hadn't explained it quite as well as she'd hoped.

"Malfoy wants to win and he has to take care of me to do so, so don't worry Ronald, he won't harm me," Hermione said, eventually pulling a plate with a pancake towards her. She stabbed it with a fork and rubbed it in syrup for a moment. "Plus," She said, chewing thoughtfully. "It's only Malfoy- I could take him out in a heartbeat,"

Ron and Harry grinned at her in agreement. "We know you can, you'll take care of yourself," Harry said in a positive and sure tone. He patted her back again and then took his hands off of her, laying them on the table.

"But y'know… we wouldn't blame you, if you decided to kill him," Ron shrugged jokingly, making everyone around them laugh.

* * *

"This is gonna be so cool!" Blaise urged in an excited voice. He walked alongside Draco, who had decided to completely skip breakfast. "You'll probably win!"

"I might," He shrugged. "I dunno… there are good odds, though," He reasoned, bobbing his head to once side for a moment.

Blaise scoffed. "Mate, you got perfect exam results. You're winning, for definite. And apparently I can send you gifts when you're out there," He said with a hint of suggestion.

"Brilliant," replied Draco, still not looking as eager as Blaise. "Send me some porn then, will you?" His face turned sour. "If I spend so much time with Granger, I might end up turning gay,"

Blaise barked a laugh. "Either that or-" He gave a mock-horror gasp. "You'll end up being attracted to her,"

Adorning a horrified expression, Draco shuddered. "Don't even make jokes about that," He shook his shoulders as he shivered at the thought. Him and the Mudblood? Ew.

"She's a fucking idiot," Draco carried on, shaking his head. Once someone started him on Granger, he couldn't stop. "She actually tried to make friends with the lot of them,"

Blaise raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Aren't they supposed to be-?

"Our enemies, yeah," Draco shook his head as he finished Blaise's sentence. "She fucking goes around making friends with them all and then I have to drag her away and tell her not to like I'm her bloody daddy or something,"

Blaise sniggered at the mental image he got from that sentence. Malfoy as Granger's daddy? Okay… He had a dirty sense of humour. His face turned serious. "Honestly, though, what is she thinking?" Blaise asked rhetorically. "Does she think making friends will get her through this?"

Draco shrugged. "No idea. I saw them all sizing her up and she didn't even bloody notice. I eventually had to scare them off just so that they wouldn't underestimate us," He sighed disapprovingly.

Blaise's eyebrow twitched as he got an idea. "Wait- what if that was her idea?" He stopped walking to mull it over in his mind.

Draco stopped after a few steps and turned to him, his pale eyebrows frowning. "What?" He asked, not quite knowing where Blaise was coming from.

"What if her intention was to let them underestimate the two of you so that, when you're in the challenge, you're unpredictable?" Blaise asked, carefully placing his words. His eyes travelled up to Draco's and he waited for a response.

Was that her plan? But if she had a plan, she couldn't keep it to herself- she had to let him in on it. It was the rules- they were partners. She had looked… genuinely annoyed when he'd dragged her away and he knew just by her body language and voice that she had _actually_ wanted to make friends with them all. No, Granger wasn't smart enough to do that plan. Or was she…?

Did she somehow know that he would come up and rescue her? Did she want everyone to underestimate _her_, and not him? _That _was it! She wanted to be seen as the one who was unpredictable- so that she looked better than him! The little Gryffindork was trying to _show_ him up! Trying to look smarter and more cunning than him!

He smirked. Well, now that he knew her plan, it was obviously going to fail. He should probably thank Blaise for giving him the idea- without him, he may not have even thought of it. But Blaise's conclusion wasn't as malicious as the truth…

"Thanks Blaise," He said absentmindedly, distracted by his own plan forming inside his head. "I uh- I think that's where she's coming from, yeah,"

Blaise seemed to adopt a smirk of his own. "You underestimate her," He established. "What if _she_ was the one manipulating them?"

* * *

The next morning, a brown, tawny owl arrived at Hermione's dorm holding a new time table. She petted it with one hand before it flew away, reading her classes with the other hand.

_Astronomy: 11 am – 12 pm (Astronomy classroom 4B)_

_Basic Home Economics: 1pm – 2pm (Herbology classroom inside)_

_Charms: 3pm – 4pm (Professor Flitwick's classroom)_

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. At least she knew professor Flitwick- he would probably help her, maybe even give her a few tips and tricks since she was such a good student. She assumed that the hour between each class was so that you could study what you'd just been taught and made a mental note to either, 1) head to the library during that time, or 2) study quietly in the hall. She wondered, very briefly, what Draco's time table looked like. Had they chosen the correct subjects to study? She bit her lip. What if Draco would be better at Home Economics? He was good at potions after all… and cooking was similar. His name was a constellation too- didn't that mean he at least had _some_ knowledge of Astronomy? She found herself doubting him, something she didn't want to do. He'd come off as so cool and collected yesterday and although it had irked her greatly, she admitted that he had the better head. She tended to panic, which clouded her thoughts. Nothing… really seemed to bother him that much. That was quite weird.

Look at her! Trying to figure out Draco Malfoy and it was only 10am! She'd only been awake for two hours and he was already irritating her head! That stupid, slimy ferret.

With an annoyed sigh, Hermione flung her bag over her shoulder and headed to breakfast.

* * *

Snape sighed at the bunch of children in front of him. Good _God, _why had he become a teacher? Look at all of their disgusting faces… except Malfoy of course. Family was an exception.

"Right," He began speaking in a bored tone. "As you may or may not know, I am professor Snape," He wandered, slowly, in front of their tables. He had a feeling he would need to lay it on thick with these students. "I don't react well to intolerable children and I will _not_ tell you anything twice, do you hear me?"

After a chorus of 'yes' responded to him, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Why the hell had he agreed to this again?

"I'll be teaching you the most basic and helpful potions. Everything I tell you today will aid you in some way during this… tournament, so listen carefully. If you don't, I'll kick you and your partner out and you'll be left to fend for yourselves. Am I clear?"

He was met with silence. "Right," He said. With a flick of his wand, everyone's books turned to a certain page. None of them looked impressed, and he felt the need to slap every single one of them over the face- they all looked absolutely _dreadful. _Except Malfoy.

"You'll be taught three very important potions today. One is a healing potion, one is a sleeping potion and the other is an anti-paralysis potion. I'm sure you are… aware that you are unable to take notes into the tournament, so listen. The ingredients used for all three potions can also be used to create four more potions. Just remember that little… tid bit of information. It may just save your life," He said fiercely.

One of them flinched at his voice, and he smirked. "Memorise the ingredients, memorise the method, and you should be fine," He shrugged as if everything was all hunky-dory. "Unless of course," He began innocently. "You die before you're even able to make a potion,"

Up the back of the classroom, Draco hid a chuckle behind a closed fist. All of these idiots flinched at Snape's words- unaware that he was simply toying with them.

Idiots.

* * *

"I uh… I, yes," Professor Flitwick stuttered, much to the annoyance of many female students. Hermione felt a little uneasy that most of the girls had chosen to take charms. There were only two boys in her class, and around eight or nine girls.

Professor Flitwick constantly checked the book to make sure the things he was saying were correct. "I will be teaching you… ah, yes… three basic charms! But, even though I'm only- wait a minute," He said, frowning, checking the book again.

"Who the bloody hell is this dunderhead?" Hermione heard a girl mutter. She felt a little sorry for Flitwick inside. It wasn't his fault he was getting so confused.

"Yes! I see, I get it now, ah, even though you're being taught new spells and charms, it doesn't mean that you cannot use the spells and charms that you already know… Do you understand that? Even though you're being taught new things, you're still allowed to use other spells that you know… you know… you're not restricted to using the things that you're being taught today," He said, stuttering and mumbling when all he received was a bunch of blank stares. The only one that looked even remotely interested was Hermione, actually.

_No restrictions. _She wrote down clearly. _Allowed to use any of the spells that you already know. _

"The three charms are: a heating charm, a healing charm and a shield charm. Now, wands at the ready!"

* * *

"Alright, listen up!" A woman shouted loudly. She was wearing what looked like hiking gear and held a bow in her hand. They were outside, near Hagrid's hut, and there were a bunch of circles attached to trees in front of them with red and blue stripes. Draco shoved his hands in his pockets and blew out a sigh- this was bloody boring.

"Clasp your hands together in front of you," She said, holding her hands in front of her face to demonstrate. After some weird looks at each other, they finally complied with her demands. She brought her hands closer to her eyes and looked through a hole that was between her index fingers and thumbs. "Bring them to your eye," She said, looking through at them with her right eye. They did so, muttering how this was absolutely ridiculous.

Draco felt like a bloody donkey, but went along with it anyways. He brought his clasped hands up to his right eye and looked through.

The woman pulled her hands away from her eyes, but then pulled them towards her again. "Bring them to your eye," She repeated. "And whichever eye you bring your hands immediately to is your dominant eye. If you're left eye is dominant, you're drawing with your left hand. If you're right eye is dominant, you can guess what hand you're drawing with," She said, throwing her hands back down by her sides. A few children got confused and as she helped them, Draco thought to himself.

His right eye was most definitely dominant, but his eyesight was completely perfect. He could probably use both. Instead of making them look like idiots by looking through a hole made by their hands, couldn't she have just asked what hand they write with? Bloody idiot. Everyone around him seemed to be some sort of psychopath, and it was as if he was the only sane one left.

"Alright, what are you mister?" She asked in a squeaky tone. He almost winced at her.

"Uh, right handed," He said, catching the bow that she'd thrown at him. She moved to stand behind him and put her hands firmly on his shoulders.

"Alright, hold the bow in your left hand," She ordered. He silently hissed at the sound of her voice in his ear- he wouldn't need to bloody study, her annoying voice would be drilled into his head forever now. "Turn to the left a little, so that the left side of your body is pointing towards the target. Feet must be shoulder width apart," She said, kicking the back of his shoes. He turned around and glared at her, resisting the urge to spit: _"These are Italian leather, you twat. Cows had to die for this." _Instead, he moved his feet apart and revelled in the moments where she was quiet. Everyone gathered around him.

"Hold the bow out in front of you, take this arrow," She handed him an arrow and he took it in his right hand. "Draw it back until it hits your nose. Relax your shoulders and ribs. One finger above the arrow and two below- that's right. Now, aim with your dominant eye aaaaand release," She said.

With a deep breath, Draco completely let go of the end of the arrow and lowered the bow. Quickly, the arrow shot into the middle of his target and he smirked. A nearby girl frowned.

"He's clearly already done archery before! He should be disqualified!"

The teacher smirked at her as well. "Why, because he's a fast learner? You're up kid; show me what you got,"

Handing the bow over to the small girl, he took her place in the crowd of strangers, folding his arms tightly over his chest. The smirk was still plastered on his face- what? He couldn't help it. He'd never done archery before and had gotten the middle of the target on his first try. Either she was actually a good teacher, or he was an absolute god. He decided to choose the latter. As much as he was flattered that she'd defended him, he still didn't like her annoying voice.

He held in a snicker as the girls' arrow flew way past the target and cracked the bark of another tree before completely falling to the floor. She turned, specifically to him, and frowned. He frowned back at her immediately- he didn't like the sight of her. She was one of the girls that had looked Granger up and down. She had a few freckles, pale skin and dark, black hair. She reminded him of Potter, and he didn't like Potter.

She had a parting in the middle of her hair and it was pulled behind her head in a tight ponytail, pulling back her blue eyes. If they had met under different circumstances, he would've found her almost pretty, but he knew she was all evil inside.

She walked away from the bow, passing it onto another boy. A smaller, tanned boy with flicky sandy-blonde hair. He was a lot better than her, but not as good as him.

When it was his turn again, he focused a little more, _just_ to ensure that he didn't have beginners luck. The second time, it hit the line between the middle circle and the white –outer circle bang on. He was a little off, but his vision was pretty damn precise. He suddenly thanked his genes.

"You're telling us you've never done archery before?" said the girl, her voice heavy with attitude. She left her mouth open slightly after she'd finished speaking, as if challenging him.

His lips tilted upwards. "I'm not telling you anything about myself,"

* * *

"After the feast, may I ask all contestants to come and see me? I have some more information and would like to show you all something," Dumbledore didn't say anything else, and walked back to his seat, declaring the beginning of the challenge.

"So, how was it?" Ginny asked, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes. She chewed whilst Hermione thought of a way to answer her.

"It was alright," She replied, giving a 'so-so' gesture. "I studied enough and remember everything I was taught, so," She shrugged with one shoulder. "That's a bonus,"

Ginny smiled excitedly. "You're gonna do brilliant, Hermione. I bet you'll even win!"

She _swore _everyone was excited about this except from her.

"I hope so," She tried to smile and think positively, but too many worries were floating around her head. Would she die? She knew she wouldn't die in real life, but would she die in the game? That would be humiliating. Utterly humiliating, especially since she was one of Hogwarts' best students. It wouldn't look good on the school, her house, Harry, or Dumbledore! She couldn't let them all down; she _had_to win, even if that meant working with Malfoy. She would keep her differences aside until the challenge was finished and she had _won._

"Are you nervous?" Neville asked from beside her. She let out a shaky breath.

"I'm not as nervous as I was yesterday," She lied through her teeth. She felt bad about lying to Neville- he always trusted her judgement. "I'll be fine by tomorrow, I hope," Well- that part wasn't a lie.

He nodded eagerly. "I'll be routin' for ya! Me and Seamus, we both will be!"

Ron chuckled. "The whole of Hogwarts is routing for her," He reminded. With a sour expression, he added: "And Malfoy,"

Hermione let herself laugh. Yes- she had all of her friends behind her.

* * *

"Dumbledore, where on earth are we going?" A small black haired girl with a middle parting asked. Her voice was impatient and demanding. Dumbledore turned around momentarily and smiled at her.

"You'll find out in a minute," He teased. "And," He added, sternly, but still with a smile. "You may address me as _Professor_,"

"Fine, professor, whatever," She hollered. Hermione looked at her incredulously- the manners of that girl! She had absolutely none! Draco looked a little annoyed at her as well.

Eventually, they came to double doors that Dumbledore stood in front of. He turned to them and held out his arms.

"For two whole hours, you will train in this room. You must keep up your stealth, stamina and strength throughout this competition. You will begin here," He said, and as he turned, the doors opened.

Inside was a large… arena looking room. There were a lot of weights and rubber, spongy blue mats that looked as if they belonged in a yoga room. There were magical treadmills along a mirrored wall that were moving as if someone was running on them. Some were faster than others.

"You may get changed here," Dumbledore said, gesturing to a door that separated the changing rooms from the main room. "The only thing I ask is that you train _with_ your partner and not with the other contestants," Dumbledore smiled sweetly, before disappearing with a pop. Everyone looked around, expecting him to appear again behind them somewhere, but after a few moments, he didn't, so the girls and boys set off to opposite sides of the room to get changed.

When Hermione got in the changing room, there was a bag already laid on a bench with her name on it. She looked in it, almost hesitantly, and pulled out the first navy item. It was a pair of shorts that she usually wouldn't be caught dead in. They must've _just_ covered her backside. The t-shirt that she pulled out afterwards wasn't much better- it was a grey tank top that was _far_ too low cut.

She changed quickly, not wanting to be nearly naked for long. She pulled the shorts down as far as they would go and pulled the t-shirt upwards so that she could cover herself as much as possible. The others girls didn't seem to mind and she cringed when she saw a girl actually pull her t-shirt down _lower. _

She performed a number of spells on the bag with her name on it- she didn't want her uniform to end up the victim of a prank- and then pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail.

"Hah! Look at her; she's practically flat-chested!" The black haired girl shouted, pointing at someone. Hermione had a feeling it was her that was being made fun of and her stomach flipped, her eyes hardening. That girl was bloody asking for it- she wouldn't be surprised if someone slapped her by the end of the day.

She ignored the girl and threw on the tennis shoes that were on the floor next to her bag, and then walked outside. When someone threw something at her back, she _knew _it was her that was being made fun of. She sighed, rolling her eyes and tried to ignore it. So what if her chest wasn't very large? She still had four more years of growing to go. They would probably get a little bigger eventually, and plus, they weren't _small_. They were just the right size for her, and that was all that mattered. She didn't need to please anyone else.

She found Malfoy waiting outside for her- he leaned against the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed, the same way he'd been standing in the trophy room. She wondered what he was always thinking about when he stood like that.

As if sensing her muggle-born presence, his eyes opened and he took a few steps towards her. They both stood awkwardly for a moment and Hermione found herself frowning at his attire.

"How come you get to wear trousers?!" She asked him, eyeing the navy blue trousers and grey V-neck shirt.

He shrugged one muscular shoulder, but didn't answer her. She wasn't sure if he had even listened to her.

"Why's she even wearing a bra? I mean look at the size of them," She heard the girl say again as she howled with laughter. Bringing her slim arms up to her chest, she self-consciously covered herself up, looking away as a fresh pink blush scattered across her nose. She sighed angrily.

Draco discreetly looked at Hermione's chest before scoffing at the girl, his grey eyes growing darker. "As opposed to yours, which are clearly aided by some sort of push-up bra? Skank," He said dryly, moving over to the treadmills.

Hermione followed behind him, wondering what the hell had just happened. Had he just defended her? Was he trying to be _nice?! _The girl did shut up… in fact; she burned as people laughed at his comment and walked away embarrassedly. He'd certainly done some good there, then. Someone had to teach her a lesson.

"Thanks for that," Hermione said awkwardly, stepping onto the treadmill beside him. It was weird to say thank you to Malfoy. He rolled his eyes at her whilst jogging.

"Don't fucking flatter yourself, Granger. I never done it for you, I done it because someone had to tell that whore where to go," He said.

It was Hermione's time to burn. She'd set her differences aside for the sake of the competition and in that moment, she thought that he had as well, but clearly not. Now it was back to hating each other, obviously. How could she be an idiot and think that Malfoy was defending her? Of course he wasn't, he was always looking for an opportunity to bully someone and he'd found it in her. He took the chance- that's all it was. He wasn't being nice to her. He _couldn't_ be nice at all. It wasn't in his DNA.

"Right… well…" She mumbled, beginning to jog as well. She didn't even finish her sentence- she didn't know _how_ to finish it, so she just let it fade away and a thick discomfort washed over both of them as they jogged in silence.

She tried to match his pace. He was extremely fast and had really long legs, so it was hard for her, but she kept up. He didn't even realise what she was doing until he noticed that she was looking at his legs as he ran. He thought she was ogling him at first, but then recognised that she was actually trying to _keep up_ with him.

If she wanted to survive in this, she had to match Malfoy for everything he had. If he was fast, she had to be fast. He _wouldn't_ save her in this tournament; she would need to look after herself, and that meant being able to do as much as he could.

But Draco noticed this and smirked. He knew Hermione was struggling to keep up with him as is and he hadn't even reached his full potential yet. As far as he was concerned, he was still in a _jog_ and she was panting, sweating everywhere as she ran faster than her legs could carry her.

He lazily pushed the button to go faster and she looked at him disbelievingly, giving out quick sighs. She swallowed and looked ahead before quickening hers as well, her eyes widening when she took in the pace. Good _Lord_ was he fast. She tried to ignore the two contestants that stared at them in amazement.

"Whoa," One dragged out in an impressed whisper. "They're going so fast,"

"It's almost inhuman," The other said with wide, glittering eyes.

Hermione panted faster and a sharp pain hit her in the side, throwing her off guard. She let out a yelp and pushed against it with her palm, hissing in through her teeth. She pressed the button to slow down and then hopped off, bending over to apply more pressure to her side. Draco came off after a moment with a weird smile on his face. He felt good that he'd bet her at running, but he had to admit, she made good competition.

"Where to now?" She asked through panting breaths. He shrugged and went over to a blue mat that wasn't in use and read the parchment next to it that recommended and suggested some work outs.

"Alright Granger, park your arse," He said, sitting on his knees. She frowned at him, but sat down on the cushiony mat anyways. He kneeled on her feet and she yelped, pulling them out from under them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She asked him, trying to rub her foot through her shoes. He smirked at her and pointed to the parchment that showed a diagram of someone doing sit-ups and the other person kneeling on their feet to keep them held down. She frowned- she knew that exercise and knew he had only hurt her on purpose. That blood git.

"You can go first, I need a rest," She frowned, getting onto her knees instead. He rolled his grey eyes and lay flat on his back, waiting for her to sit on his feet. In all honesty, he didn't really want her to touch him at all, but at least there was the barrier of his trousers.

She kneeled on his toes, purposely putting all of her weight on them and even jumping on them a few times, but it was clear he had a higher pain threshold than her. He simply smirked at her and done his sit-ups, enjoying her annoyed expression.

After they'd switched places –and Draco hurting her again- and done some strengthening workouts, a bell sounded out over their heads, announcing the end of their workout. Hermione walked quickly into her changing room and threw her uniform over her tank top, not bothering to take it off. She didn't want to give that girl another reason to laugh at her. She pulled her skirt on and then took her shorts off beneath it, so that nothing of hers would be exposed. She ignored the uncomfortable feeling of having two t-shirts on, but ignored it quickly and packed her things away. She left them in the bag on the bench and shoved her shoes on, walking out quickly. She didn't hear anything from the girl again. _Perhaps what Malfoy said did the trick after all…_

* * *

_How on earth did someone get into my room? _Hermione thought to herself as she took in the clothes that were laid out at the end of her bed.

_Probably Dumbledore magic-ed them there, actually. _

She took a quick shower and then dried herself off with her wand, figuring that it was probably the last shower she'd have for a while now. She wanted to take a long, hot bubbly bath and revel in it, but unfortunately, she didn't have the time. A quick rinse would have to suffice. At least her hair wasn't greasy, though.

She shoved on the tight black jeans and black V-neck t-shirt. Why was everything black? Even her shoes were black. Well… by shoes, she meant the heavy lace-up boots she'd been given. There was also a large rucksack/backpack type thing that had been left at the end of her bed, so she looked inside it. It contained an empty water bottle, a map, some ropes, a hair bobble, some more t-shirts, a hair brush and clean underwear. She wondered how someone would know her size but then realised they were made from fabric that allowed them to be altered and smiled lightly about how clever Dumbledore was.

As she was lacing up her shoes, her admiration for Dumbledore was replaced with an unpleasant tingling in her stomach. She was nervous and dreaded what was going to happen. She'd seen what Harry faced in the Tri-Wizard tournament and Dumbledore had said it would be similar- would she have to face... dragons and stuff? She couldn't deal with that. She wasn't strong enough, nor was she fast.

She hated herself for admitting it, but she would have to rely on Draco quite a lot.

She was a strong and independent woman, but she would definitely need his help… or maybe she didn't _need_ his help… his help would be… a bonus, if you will. Plus, Draco Malfoy was not reliable and they hated each other- why would they help each other? If she'd just been chosen to do it with Ron then everything would be fine and they'd possibly even win, but with Draco, winning was almost an impossibility.

She sighed.

She was beginning to do that a lot.

* * *

Draco looked over himself in the mirror, finding the whole black gothic look uncomfortable and more importantly, unattractive. The black contrasted greatly with his blonde hair and pale skin and it wasn't an exaggeration. His t-shirt was black, his jeans were black and his boots were black. Even the waterproof jacket that they'd provided him with was black. They bag that they'd given him was black as well.

_Of course, _He suddenly thought to himself, _to blend in when it's dark._

Now that he knew why everything was black, he felt a lot better. He'd taken a shower this morning and hadn't bothered to gel his hair or even comb it. When he attended to his hair _at all, _it was greasy the day after. However, when he didn't touch it, it magically lasted him a good few days and he doubted there would be a shower handy for them.

So, with messy, blonde bed hair, Draco swung his bag over his shoulder and trundled down the steps to head towards the hall.

* * *

"You're gonna do great," Harry said, his hands firmly planted on Hermione's shoulders. Before she'd left, she put her hair up in a ponytail and her long fringe tickled Harry's fingers.

"Thanks, I hope so," She breathed. She quickly hugged Ron, who held her a little tighter than usual and then hugged Ginny too, who looked excited. _If only she was in my position _Hermione thought.

She left Harry until last. She didn't know why, but it just felt normal to have him be her last hug before she left. She felt like it would give her the most hope, because he'd been in the same –and worse- situation than her.

"Bye," She waved to them, walking towards the front, where Malfoy was already standing. His black outfit made him look… taller somehow, and she felt extremely small next to him.

"Now," Dumbledore said loudly, turning towards them. In a flash, a shield was in front of them, separating them from the audience. "Goodbye and good luck!"

In another flash, the shield swallowed them up, and they were gone.

* * *

Thank you: **BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, rae8807, XDramioneLoverx, Alice D, .breathless, SasoriHime05, GirForPrez, SlytherinGurrl, asjkasdf, roseberrygirl, fantastia-49, superstarem and Twilighternproud **for reviewing the last chapter!

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

**-FallenForTheDraco**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack: **John Murphy - Adagio In D Minor (Sunshine OST)

* * *

_**DAY ONE **_

"Ungh!" Hermione grunted, arching her back. She hissed at the pain spreading over her spine and glared at the sky for dropping her. She also mentally cursed Dumbledore- he didn't have to be so harsh about it!

She looked at her surroundings- green, leafy bushes that sat on long, brown sticks. _Trees _she thought. She was in a forest. She could hear running water, and birds. The ground beneath her back was spongy and cold. _Grass._

Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she looked ahead of herself. There were more trees, and the sky was awfully misty and grey, surrounding her with little ghosts. She heard a gasp of pain and turned to her right- there was Draco. He was squinting and holding his back as if it hurt. The same reaction as her, then.

"Where are we?" She asked almost instinctively.

The inevitable question: where the hell were they? In most movies that she'd seen, at one point or another, someone asked this. Whether it be a woman asking where her husband had taken her on a romantic trip with a blindfold over her eyes or in a horror movie when people woke up and had no idea what had happened.

Unfortunately, she had no lover.

So that meant her situation was closest to the latter: a horror movie.

That did not calm the knots in her stomach.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Draco snapped angrily, exposing his teeth in a mixture of angst and pain. He groaned as he held his back and it was then that she noticed the pain in her own back, but her body was full of adrenaline now. She had to ignore the pain and get them to safety. Fast. She didn't know how long she'd been lying there now, and others could have gotten up already.

She pushed herself up using the little strength that she had and crawled over to Draco. Pulling the hair bobble off of her wrist, she quickly tied her hair up into a messy, makeshift bun.

"Are you alright?" She asked a little hesitantly, her hands twitching as they tried to decide whether or not she should assess his wound.

"Does it fucking look like I'm alright?" He hissed. After a few moments of heavy breathing and more groans, he finally pushed himself up, steadying his rucksack on his back. He stretched his legs, walking away from her and she followed wordlessly, looking around them. It looked like they were in some sort of clearing, and moisture hung thick in the air.

Despite the fact that it had been morning before they'd fallen, the sky was suddenly growing dark. It scared her and she took in as much of her surroundings as she could whilst it was still relatively light. It made her wonder where she had been before she fell, yet after she disappeared, and how long she'd spent in that place.

"This is fucking creepy," Draco reluctantly blurted out, trying to quieten his steps. With every foot in front of the other that he took, crunchy leaves crackled underneath his boots and he winced. He had to keep quiet, or he might alert people of their destination.

Hermione nodded, breathing out in a quick breath. A misty ghost followed and she rubbed her upper arms, realising how suddenly cold it had gotten.

"I know," She finally agreed. Her dry, cracked lips rubbed together and she licked them, but they dried back up immediately. The air was thick and cold and it didn't feel like they were near any water. The leaves on the ground were dry and the dirt beneath the leaves was crumbled, not holding any moisture at all. It was weird- she heard running water, but everything on the land told her there was no water near them.

"We need to get to somewhere safe," Draco said, hoisting his bag up his back as it threatened to slip down. They walked slowly towards one exit of the clearing, trying to peek through the trees, but it was completely black behind them. Neither of them knew what could be lurking in there.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, her gaze stuck on a tree. It was brown and mundane, like the others, save for a roll of parchment that hung from a branch. It was secured there with a rich red ribbon. She went to walk towards it, but Draco grabbed her bicep tightly.

"Don't," He snapped. "It could be some sort of trap,"

Seeing his sense, she nodded. Her hand hovered over the waistband of her jeans, where she knew her wand was sitting. She didn't need to check to see if it was still there- she could feel both ends of it- one end was digging into her hip and the other digging into the top of her thigh. She welcomed the pain as a distraction, but her senses were heightened, meaning that she was acting on instinct.

In a few seconds, so gradual that they almost didn't notice it, (key word being almost) everything became eerily quiet. The birds and running water that Hermione had heard disappeared and her head snapped up to the top of the trees. She felt like she was being tricked- like someone was watching her. Her gut instinct told her that they weren't safe, but she didn't necessarily know if they were in any _trouble._

"Did you hear that?" She rasped out. Draco frowned at her. Surrounded by the mist, he looked more sickly than usual. His pale face that usually held an odd glow had turned a deathly green/grey shade.

"What?" He asked back. He hadn't heard anything. She must've been going insane already.

"The birds," replied Hermione, gasping. "The birds, they… stopped,"

Draco looked up too, his expression turning to one of realisation. He hadn't even noticed that the noises had stopped. In fact, if he was honest, he hadn't even noticed that there were noises in the first place. He was much more aware of what he was _seeing_ rather than hearing.

"I have a bad feeling," said Draco quietly, looking around them. He tried to see past the trees, but couldn't. It was light outside, so he _should've _been able to see something, but the brownness of the trees' bark almost blended in with… well, whatever was behind it. He didn't believe it was pitch black, but he didn't trust it enough to prove his theory.

"Me too," Hermione responded. She looked back at the parchment on the tree and then pulled out her wand, walking towards it. She heard Draco following her and only stopped when she was in front of it. Inspecting it until she was happy it wasn't going to kill her, she performed a series of spells on it to see if it had been cursed.

"It hasn't been cursed," She frowned, looking behind her to Draco. He shrugged, silently mentioning that it was up to her.

She unintentionally held her breath as she reached out a hand, testing the paper with her fingers first. It felt like normal parchment, and the ribbon slid off easily, falling to the grass. It blew away from them as she rolled it open like a poster, holding it in front of her. She had expected a riddle, or even a paragraph, but a large A4 sized piece of parchment had been used to only support one sentence.

_Look behind you. _

"Behind-?" asked Draco with furrowed eyebrows. He didn't want to, but looked anyways. He staggered back with wide eyes, grabbing Hermione's arm. He tried not to yell or make her panic. It hadn't noticed him yet. Thank God for that.

With tightly closed lips, Draco murmured, "Granger. Don't scream."

Her breath hitched and she stilled. Slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder and then gasped softly, staggering the way that Draco had. She felt the coldness of the tree behind her seeping through her t-shirt and swallowed.

"Just be quiet," Draco said in a hushed voice. Slowly, and without even realising, they began side-stepping their way around the edge of the clearing, their eyes on the large animal anyways.

Hermione bunched her black shirt up in her left hand, drawing her wand out of her jeans slowly. The cool air hit her stomach and she shivered, but slid the material back down. Her right arm was held outwards and Draco's hand was stuck to her forearm so firmly that it felt like he had been frozen against her. She began to breathe heavily, her heart hammering in her chest so hard that she could actually feel her ears pulsate.

A _crack _made them both freeze and their eyes stayed plastered to the large bear. The feeling of terror washed over both of them as its head snapped up in their direction and it started to sniff, watching them.

"Don't… move…" Draco bit out, trying not to let his lips move too much. He looked in control to Hermione, but the truth was that he was scared shitless. This bear was at least twice the size of him _on all fours. _It was bloody massive and its teeth looked incredibly sharp. Quickly, Draco drew his own wand and threw both straps of his bag over both of his shoulders so that it would be more secure.

As swift as the action had been, it still alerted the bear that they were human and it recognised them as a threat. It took a few steps towards them and let out a huge roar, thrashing its head around. Hermione whimpered quietly and Draco tightened his hold around her wrist. He didn't want to hurt her so much that she yelped out in pain, but he had to warn her not to make a bloody noise.

Her mind was racing. Should they just kill it, should they tackle it and run or should they just run away? The bear would catch up with him easily though, she concluded, taking a look at the bears muscular and long legs. Its claws looked like shiny triangular razors.

They stayed as still as they could. That was, until the bear charged for them. With wide eyes and a pair of equally terror-filled gasps, they broke apart and ran in opposite directions. Hermione couldn't help it any longer and let out small, scared screams as she panted. A look behind her confirmed that the bear had chased after _her_ and not Draco. She pumped her legs faster, so fast that they felt numb and gripped her wand tighter. She didn't want to hurt a poor innocent animal, but she felt like she might have to.

Luckily, Draco had already thought ahead.

"Immobulus!" He cast from across the clearing. Hermione slowed and tried to regain her breath as the bear stopped in mid-air.

"What do we do?" She cried in a hysterical tone. She was crumbling already. Fifteen minutes in this place and already she'd been attacked by a bear! What next?!

"Run?" Draco suggested with a shrug and a worried expression. He hated how much emotion he'd shown already in this hell-hole of a game. He was the stoic one and he had to stay that way. He couldn't let anyone, especially Granger, see how he was affected.

Hermione nodded, looking around them. She couldn't really focus on anything except from the bear that bore its teeth. She imagined what would've happened if Draco hadn't cast the immobilizing spell and got a mental imagine of the bear sinking its teeth right into her, making her shudder.

"Where to?" She asked, still panting. He shook his head and looked behind them into the blackness of the forest. It was out there or in here.

Out there probably had a lot more bears.

In here had one bear in particular that wanted to kill them.

"I don't know," breathed Draco. He finally lowered his wand and stepped behind a tree, constantly looking back in case the spell became ineffective.

"This is worse than I imagined," Hermione admitted, looking up at the grey sky. Draco ignored her. He didn't want to talk. He was too distracted by his own thoughts. He never thought, in his life, that he would willingly touch Hermione Granger. Even if he was provoked by his own fear of a bear- it was ludicrous.

But he had. He'd grabbed onto her, and he didn't know if it was because _he_ had been afraid or if he'd known that _she_ was afraid. Also, the way he was talking to her had no bite. Yes, he was caught off guard by a freaking bear, but he still didn't want, or need, to be nice to her. Now she probably thought they were best friends. Well, he was _not_ Weasley. Or Potter.

"Where are we even going?" Hermione asked worriedly, glancing at him with large brown eyes.

Draco sighed in annoyance, his cold exterior in place once again. "I don't know, okay?" He said exhaustedly. Hermione drew back and her chocolate eyes hardened.

She didn't give him the satisfaction of answering back wittily. Every time she responded to him when he was in a bad mood, he made a full blown argument of things and she was left feeling either, 1) guilty or 2) angry as hell.

She didn't feel like harbouring any of those feelings at the moment, so she stayed silent, hoping that his momentary glance towards her was one of guilt. He was far too harsh on her most of the time and she didn't like it. Yes, he had practically saved her life just there, but that didn't give him the right to suddenly close up and not act like her partner. They had to get through this _together_ or not at all.

"What did you learn in charms?" asked Draco suddenly. His voice was steady and stern, not at all like someone who had just been chased by a black bear.

Hermione thought quickly. "A shield charm, a heating charm, and a healing charm," She said. When he didn't respond, she frowned. "Why?"

Draco took a deep breath. "And you couldn't have used a shield charm against that bear?"

Hermione gazed out for a second. Hold on, _she_ was getting the blame for this? She hadn't even done anything. Excuse her if the last thing on her mind was schoolwork whilst she was being chased by a bloody _animal. _"No, I couldn't have," She eventually responded in a hard voice.

Grey eyes rolled. "You could have if you didn't start panicking like a banshee,"

Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me? I'm not the one that grabbed onto someone in complete _fear!" _She replied. She knew her response would irritate him, but she didn't care. He was feeding on her insecurities, so she would feed on his.

A muscle in his jaw jumped, but when he responded, he didn't address her retaliation. "It's getting dark," He stated. "We should get to some place safe for the night,"

She stopped walking and stared at his back as he continued on in front of her. Why hadn't he continued the argument? That wasn't like him. Perhaps she'd wounded his ego. Biting back the response 'Where is safe?!" she took a deep breath.

With a sigh, she followed him until the trees parted and they came to a small waterfall that opened into a lake. The ground became spongier due to moisture and the dirty mud stuck to the bottom of their boots. Draco threw his rucksack against a tree and sighed, looking out.

"We'll stay here," He decided. Hermione's eyebrows rose.

"Here? It's too open, someone might find us," She said, her mind racing. Every sudden thought she had was one of them getting found and killed by another contestant.

Draco nodded once to the bright moon in the sky. "We need as much light as we can get without making our own. The moon will reflect on the water and that'll double our amount of light. It means we'll actually be able to see tonight. Just be glad nobody else has found this place," He said to her.

She looked around cautiously and then threw her bag next to his and sat on the soft grass. It was getting really dark very fast, and she was growing even more worried. She wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. She didn't want someone to kill her in her sleep.

"We should patrol," She blurted out before she could even think of it.

Draco stared at her for a moment before bobbing his head once. "I was thinking the same,"

Glad that they were at least on the same page, she noticeably relaxed. As she did, the pain in her back became more pronounced and she winced. She'd been so focused on thoughts that she hadn't shown her body any attention, and now it was repaying her.

"It has to be at least six," Draco said, looking up at the moon. The inky blue sky was dotted with silver and had never looked more beautiful to him, but he didn't have enough time to appreciate it. "You can go to sleep at ten and I'll keep watch until four. Think you can last until eight?" He asked, crouching down. She nodded, but frowned.

"That means I'll get eight hours sleep and you'll only get four though," She pointed out, doing quick maths in her head.

Draco looked away from her and shrugged. "I don't need much sleep anyways,"

She didn't answer him and he moved over to his black bag, taking out the empty water bottle. At the lake, he filled it up and then began to drink it, but Hermione was far too paranoid that perhaps it held parasites and bacteria. She would go the night without any food or water. She had done that a few times during the war and had lived, what difference would it be?

She shuffled forward on the grass, using her bag as a sort of pillow. She didn't realise how much she'd taken a bed for granted on a daily basis. She missed the feeling of curling under a warm duvet with a book and then falling asleep. Compared to a bed, it felt like she was lying on solid concrete with a spiky boulder as a pillow. It was awful, and _if_ she got to sleep tonight, it wouldn't be a very good sleep at all.

She missed company as well. She didn't expect to miss Harry and Ron this much- she'd been away from them for thirty days at a time once, but it was completely different now. Malfoy was her only company and it was clear he hated her far too much even act civil in order to win. She wasn't much of a talker, but she found herself desperately wanting someone to talk to. She didn't care who it was. Throw her Zabini, or Nott, even _Crabbe _but not _Malfoy. _He was incapable of compassion, he didn't care about her and he was just too prejudiced.

She imagined that Harry and Ron were there, watching over her. She felt safe with them and she knew that whatever happened, they'd protect her. Even though Malfoy had saved her life in the clearing, what was to say his hatred wouldn't envelope him and he'd say 'screw the competition' and just kill her himself? He just couldn't be trusted. He couldn't be trusted in school, he couldn't be trusted during the war, and he couldn't be trusted now. She wondered if anyone found him trustworthy and _why._ Were they insane, or was Malfoy actually nice to purebloods? She couldn't imagine him being nice.

If she were pureblood, would their relationship be any different? Would he hate her for being friends with Harry and Ron? Would he hate her for being a Gryffindor? Or what if he had been Muggleborn, like her? Or what if he'd been sorted into Gryffindor? Or even Ravenclaw? Things were so complicated, yet so simple. He hated her because he'd been brought up (incorrectly) to hate Muggleborns. That was it- the cold, hard fact.

But it wasn't her fault. She couldn't _help_ it. And she'd spent years working her way to the top, doing every assignment, never missing a class, even taking _extra _classes, _just_ to prove that her body held as much magic as his did.

He was ugly. Beautiful, yes, but his personality ruined all of his features. He was like a bad book with a well-illustrated cover. Attractive on the outside, but the words inside were meaningless and bullshit. The cover gave you hope, made you think that because the outside was nice that the inside would be too, but when you opened it and read a few lines, you found yourself disappointed and possibly even disgusted. The letters were mixed up and the grammar was poor.

Yes, that was Malfoy: beauty on the outside, ugly on the inside.

On another note, she had to prepare for tomorrow. The bear had taken her off guard and the landing in the clearing had been creepy, but she had to appear stronger. Not so strong that she was cocky, but strong as in she knew what she was capable of. And she knew that she was capable of winning. She would try harder with Malfoy. They didn't need to be friends, but they had to trust each other, and she couldn't go to sleep worrying that he was going to kill her. She tried to push the fear to the back of her mind and move all of the spells and things that she'd learned to the front. She didn't want to act on instinct anymore. She wanted to return to her quick-thinking self. She didn't want to have to _rely_ on Malfoy; she wanted to be able to rely on herself. Now that she knew what she was up against, she calmed a little inside and prepared herself for worse.

Malfoy moved back over to the tree and laid against his bag just as she started slipping into a sleep. Everything was silent for a few moments before something occurred to her.

"Oh, by the way, happy late birthday Malfoy," She mumbled sleepily.

* * *

If you reviewed with a question, it'll probably be answered here!

First of all, I just want to clear some people's confusion. I mention that the war happened, yet Dumbledore and Snape are still alive.

The war did happen. Snape and Dumbledore didn't die though (that's obvious now) and I didn't want to reveal this so soon, but Draco didn't become a death eater. I planned on using this topic as a stepping-stone for their relationship, y'know, so that they could end up talking about it and becoming closer.

As for the timeline of my story: the war still ended on May 2nd. The seventh years (Harry and Hermione's year) were given an a choice of whether or not they wanted to stay in education or leave school. All of the students will stay over summer as well, to make up for the time that they lost due to the war. Dumbledore gave them a month to decide and then on June 3rd, he announced the challenge. The exams for the fifth years will start in October because that gives them 4 months to learn and study and I thought that would be an appropriate amount of time. I hope you understood this! Just tell me if I'm crap at explaining things and I'll try and explain it again haha.

**roseberrygirl: **The break-in at Gringotts still happened. I can't tell you anything about Hermione being tortured at Malfoy Manor because it comes up in the story later. :P I'm sorry! I wanted to do things a little different though! Thank you so much for your review.

**Forgottobealover: **I got the inspiration from the Tri-Wizard tournament and The Hunger Games, yes! More the Tri-Wizard tournament, but yeah, some pieces are extremely similar to the hunger games! Thank you so much for reviewing!

**Sapphire1031: **I just mentioned the timeline :) I hope you don't mind that I changed it... I am aware of it, but I do want to try something different with the time line, that's why I've kind of... kept track of the dates so far. This chapter is the 6th of June, for example. It's not just you, don't worry! Hermione _is_ being quite silly right now, but I want to develop her character a little. Since she is around Ron and Harry and is constantly the reliable one, I wanted her attitude around Draco to change, since he's just as clever as her, and I wanted her to almost rely on him for a change. I feel like her guard always has to be up around Draco (because he bullied her) but I wanted to put them in a situation where they would literally _need_ to trust each other, quickly, to live. I hope you don't mind- Hermione's personality returns to normal very quickly (in this chapter, actually, she decides that she can't rely on Draco and becomes a little more independent) but I did want to develop her personality a little! I loved your review, it was a breath of fresh air! Thank you so much. And I'm sorry if this was a long reply, lol.

The next chapter should be up tonight! It will be a lot longer than this chapter and will have plenty more action. I wanted to ease Draco and Hermione into it and didn't want to completely overwhelm them in case anyone wondered why they weren't getting into any fights :) I hope you enjoyed!

-**FallenForTheDraco**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter**

**Soundtrack: **30 Seconds To Mars - Hurricane

* * *

_**DAY TWO**_

Thirty minutes before she had to wake Malfoy up, she became louder. She cleared her throat, cracked her knuckles and shifted her heavy boots a lot of times. She wasn't a big fan of shaking someone until their eyes snapped open and they looked up at you like you were a psychopath, so she slowly tried to get him to come around. He budged a few times as he came to the end of his sleep, but didn't completely wake up.

"Malfoy," She said quietly, watching his closed eyes. They flickered a little and just before she was about to call out his name a second time, louder, they opened completely. Glad that her part was done, she looked back out to the lake to give him as much privacy as she could whilst he woke up. After a few moments, from the corner of her eye, she saw him rub his eyes and pull himself up until he was sitting against the tree. She paid attention to the waterfall again, wondering how she hadn't taken a moment last night to just watch it. She had no idea water was so… peaceful.

Luckily, nothing bad had happened last night. Malfoy woke her up at around (what he estimated) half four in the morning and then fell asleep quickly. She had struggled to stay awake, but he'd given her half an hour longer than they'd agreed and that was… nice, wasn't it? She couldn't witness him take a step forward and then do something stupid that meant he would take two back. No, they had to stay completely equal.

"We should take off as early as we can, try and eliminate someone today," Hermione said once she was sure he had woken up. She didn't know if he was a morning person and waited until the proper moment to say it.

He looked at her a little surprised at the fact it was _her_ who called the shots today, but then sneered. "What happened to being everyone's little friend?"

She was silent for a moment. "This isn't the pace to make friends," She responded quietly. Her eyes tricked her for a moment- she thought she'd seen his sneer soften.

He raised his pale eyebrows quickly. "Took you long enough to figure that out," He muttered under his breath. She ignored him and rummaged through her rucksack until she found a new t-shirt and her empty water bottle. She filled up her water bottle first, deciding that she'd rather drink than become dehydrated and stalled, holding her clean t-shirt in her hand. How could she change without being near Malfoy?

"I wouldn't change if I were you," He called out. When she turned around to look at him, his eyes were stone cold grey.

"Why's that?" She asked in a sarcastic tone. He was acting so smart out here and it irked her. She was just as smart as him- she'd noticed the moon thing last night, but her priority had been their wellbeing, not how much they could _see_.

Draco looked away as if he couldn't handle her looking at him. "Don't know how long we'll be out here," He shrugged one shoulder and looked back at her. "Could be months, just _scourgify_ yourself," He said. She sighed and then nodded, deciding that he wasn't worth the argument. She wanted to tell him that she was a grown woman and that she sweated and that she couldn't last on a spell, but bit her tongue instead. She turned her focus back to the water and frowned at something dark lurking beneath.

It was shaped like a mangled, blurry diamond beneath the liquid and it definitely hadn't been there last night. It could just be nothing, but then again, it could be something. It wasn't too deep down, but she didn't want to get wet. Plus, she could be seeing nothing and would end up wasting time if it did end up being nothing. Something told her it wasn't though.

"Malfoy," She said in a questioning tone, looking back at him. As he looked at her, signifying that he heard her, she looked back down at the shape. "Come and see this," She said.

He rolled his eyes before hoisting himself up with one hand. When he got to the edge of the water, he leaned over, putting his hands on his knees, and frowned at what she was looking at it.

"It's probably nothing, Granger," He said, tilting his head to the side. Now his partner was seeing things, great.

But she wasn't convinced. Better safe than sorry, she stood up and toed off her boots and then plucked off her socks, tucking them inside her shoes. Draco looked at her like she was an idiot; the bitch probably just wanted an excuse to change her clothes. She was such a girl.

She sat on the edge and put her feet in first, testing the temperature. It was freezing cold, but the longer she took to get in, the more time she was wasting. With a deep breath, she lifted her bum off of the edge and completely submerged herself, coming back up after her hair had gotten fully wet. She spluttered a little at how cold it was, but let herself shiver and quickly went back under, looking for whatever she'd seen. As she blinked through the saltiness of the water and got closer, she realised that it was not diamond shaped, but rather… half of a diamond shape with a straight edge on the other side. She picked it up; reaching for something else that was wedged underneath and then pulled herself back up.

She threw them onto the grass, resisting the urge to roll her chocolate eyes when Malfoy was more interested in what she'd found rather than helping her get out. He was _such_ a gentleman.

"It's a bow," He frowned. He picked up a silver tube that she'd also thrown out and opened it, pulling out a piece of parchment first. He didn't bother to see if it had been cursed. Idiot.

"D and H, well done for surviving the first task, here's your reward," He read out loud. He looked inside the tube again and then tipped it upside down, letting several thin, metal arrows fall out with a clanging sound. He stopped them with his hand and then closed it back over.

"The first task is over already?" Hermione asked. "The bear," She said after taking a moment to think. Draco nodded, looking unimpressed. Hermione quickly shoved her socks on and then laced up her boots.

"Well, at least now we can kill people from a safe distance," said Draco. He moved over to his bag and began to rearrange some things so that he could make room for the tube.

Hermione chuckled as if he was an idiot. "And how many more people do you think got a bow and arrow as a reward?"

Draco sensed her tone and stiffened, turning around. "Your point?" He asked curtly.

She shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. "It'll be a matter of who kills who first," She said. When he stared at her blankly, she rolled her eyes. "We'll need to notice them and kill them quicker than they'll kill us," More blank staring. "For goodness sakes, Malfoy, you need to carry the arrows! We can't bloody wait on you hauling your bag off your shoulder so that you can fish around for them before you _finally_ decide to kill them with it," She said angrily.

She thought he'd reply with venom, but he smirked at her. Taking her advice, he put both straps of his bag over his shoulders and carried the bow and arrow. As he walked past her to leave the waterfall, his long, warm fingers ruffled her wet hair.

"Finally getting that brain into gear, Granger. I like it,"

She stared at his lean back, dumbfounded. Had he just… touched her… and not said 'ew' afterwards? One end of her lips tilted upwards. Things were definitely progressing.

She pulled her bag on her own back and followed after him, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of being soaking wet. Her wet jeans clung to her legs and she was glad her shirt was black- had it been white; it would've been extremely see-through. That was the last thing she needed around _him. _

Draco opened the tube of arrows once again, testing how sharp they were by pressing the point of them all against the pad of his thumb. He took out what he dubbed the sharpest and ran it over his hands. Hermione tried not to frown at his curious behaviour.

"I think I'll save this one for that little black-haired bitch," He murmured, pursing his lips as he thought about it. Hermione's eyes widened a little at his vocabulary and he looked at her before frowning.

"What?" He asked at her clearly disapproving stare.

She shook her head. "Nothing,"

But Draco already knew she disapproved. He'd caught it in her glance. "She made fun of you and you don't want to bash her skull in?" He asked. He shocked her by sounding curious instead of angry.

Her dark eyebrows furrowed. "No," replied the brunette as if it was obvious.

Draco shrugged one shoulder, looking highly unaffected. "Revenge just isn't for some people," He responded, and she was pretty sure he was implying something.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked, halting her steps. After a few paces, he stopped as well and turned to look at her.

* * *

"Let's take a look at how our contestants are getting on," Dumbledore said, standing at the front of the hall. It was filled with the sixth and seventh years of each school only. Younger students were either in class or in the library studying.

With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, a large black box appeared above his head. He stepped down a few steps and looked up at it. To the students, it looked like it had broken or something had gone terribly wrong, but after a moment, it fizzed and Dumbledore broke into a smile.

"Ah! Here we are. If you don't mind," He began. "I'd like to check on my own two first,"

Draco and Hermione appeared on the box, walking through an extremely green forest. They stood out in black uniforms and the view was coming from behind them, as if someone was following them with a camera.

"-evenge,"

"You think just because I forgive people that I can't make someone pay for something they've done to me?"

"I don't think it, Granger. I know it,"

"Oh, you 'know,' do you? Go on then, tell me how you 'know' this,"

"I've been your fucking classmate for seven years, you idiot,"

"Stop swearing at me! And just because you happen to sit in the same classroom as me for seven years does _not_ mean that you know everything about me,"

Draco's laughter. "First of all, I'll swear as much as I _fucking_ want and second, I do know everything about you. You forget what I told you in the trophy room, Granger,"

"That you sit and listen to people's weaknesses and then use it against them? That isn't knowing _everything_ about someone, Malfoy, it's being a unsociable prick and then blackmailing everyone like the cowardly little twat you are!"

Everyone in the hall gasped.

"I thought you were supposed to be the brightest with of our age, Granger? You know everything about Arithmancy, you know everything about Muggle Studies, Potions, Ancient Runes and Charms, you name it, you probably fucking know it. But tell me this; how come your brain can process all of that shit, yet you don't realise that I've bullied you for the past seven years and you've done _nothing_ to stop me? _Nothing _to get revenge on me? Eh? Like I said, revenge just isn't for some people,"

"We have got revenge on you,"

"When?" A disbelieving scoff.

"Tell me, Malfoy, does Sectumsempra hurt much?"

Silence, until… "You little-

"Oh and if it's any consolation, I'd cry if my father followed an idiotic Dark Lord as well,"

Draco breathed heavily.

"Just remember who's carrying the arrows, little girl,"

"Is that some kind of threat? And don't you dare try and patronise me by calling me a little girl, I'm older than you,"

Draco scoffed again. "Good, that means you'll die before me,"

Hermione grunted. "Not if I bloody kill you first,"

"Oh, was that some kind of threat?"

"Shove off, Malfoy,"

"Touchy,"

"I said _shove off_,"

"And I said touchy,"

"Oh God,"

"What does God have to do with it?"

"FOR GOODNESS SAKES MALFOY, JUST PISS OFF!"

"Alright, alright, no need to make me go deaf. Jesus, Granger,"

"What does Jesus have to do with it?"

"Oh, bloody hell,"

* * *

A smirk grew over Hermione's face. She didn't know if they'd just saved an argument or bonded in some sickly, twisted way. In fact, she was surprised Malfoy hadn't stabbed her with the arrow he was holding after that comment about his father. That had been incredibly risky. She would have to think of her words before she said opened her mouth next time.

"Look," said Draco quietly, stopping in the middle of a step. The brunette followed his gaze to two people who were crouched down with their backs to them. They looked to be spying on another couple, whispering things and pointing. There was a silver tube next to them. They had a bow and arrow.

"Should we-

"Definitely, if we don't then they might get us later," Draco responded, sensing her question before she had even fully voiced it. Hermione winced away from his accepting attitude towards killing people, but took the tube that he offered her anyways, holding it whilst he silently manoeuvred the bow off of his arm. He slid a metal arrow out of the tube she was holding and held the end, hooking the pointy part against the elastic-y looking piece.

He slid it back towards himself until his hand was pressed against his cheek and closed over his left eye. His lips were parted slightly as he concentrated and something fluttered in Hermione's stomach. What if he wasn't good at archery? What if, after he'd killed one person, the other killed him and then they were disqualified?

"Get me another arrow," He said quietly, his vision never wavering. Hermione deftly slid another arrow out of the tube, holding it tightly until he was ready to use it. She didn't want to kill anybody, but she knew she had to. And they wouldn't _really_ die, anyways, would they? It was just a game.

She involuntarily gasped as the arrow shot away from them, hitting the person to the left in the centre of their back. The force of it, she assumed, went straight through their spine and they became rigid, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Before the other person had even come to the conclusion that their partner was dead, Draco pierced the arrow through their back as well and the girl disappeared in the same way. The arrows fell to the floor with a dull clanging sound, replacing the people that had been there before. Apart from the metal on the forest floor, there was no indication that there had ever been someone sitting there.

His archery was… flawless. His posture, his stance, his _aim_- it was all completely perfected. Either he'd spent a lot of time on it, or he was just naturally good at it. Hermione didn't know whether to feel impressed at the lean blonde, or envious.

She didn't voice her impression, but he could tell by her stare that she was at least surprised. He felt like smirking, but he didn't. He'd just killed someone- even though it was just a game- and it made him feel slightly… unnerved. He'd never killed someone before and he didn't like the feeling that came after it. That little nagging feeling reminded him that he had a heart.

Hermione, eventually, swallowed. "That was… unexpected,"

She'd anticipated blood and gore, horrific screaming and the splattering sound of blood and the crunching of crushed bones. She waited for it, but nothing happened except for a pop, and then in a swirl of dust, they were just… gone.

It felt vastly inappropriate.

She'd watched people die before, in a worse manner, but there was just something wrong with _casually _killing someone, even if it wasn't for real. Perhaps the war had turned her sensitive to the subject of death, or maybe she'd simply seen too many, but one thing she knew for sure, she didn't want to see another one. She was just a child; a teenager. She shouldn't have witnessed so many lives being taken.

When her eyes lay back on the couple that the recently deceased were spying on, she realised _why_ there had been barely any sound. _So that we don't alert __them__ of our presence now… sly, _she thought.

"Are you going to kill them as well?" Hermione asked quietly. Draco nodded.

"I need to,"

This time, she didn't watch.

* * *

"Two teams being eliminated means that there are eight teams left, including us," Hermione said, reading the map in her hands. Just a few moments after Draco had killed the second couple, she'd remembered the map inside her bag and had pulled it out, claiming that they should search for water- a team would be there guaranteed. Everyone needed water. She remembered wanting it the moment she woke up and assumed that everyone would be in the same situation. That's where they would be, for sure.

To her surprise, Draco agreed with her and let her lead the way, correcting her, and insulting her, when she got something wrong, which she liked to remind him, was only one time. But, Malfoy being Malfoy, he focused on it and continued to pick at her flaws.

"Wow, the Mudblood can count," commented Draco dryly. She glared at him from the side of her eye, but he didn't even notice her. Or maybe he did, and pretended he didn't. She had no idea.

"Don't call me that," She muttered, looking at the map again. She shook a bug that had fallen from a tree off of it and started reading it again. "We're close to another lake, I think. I don't know if we're still going east, though," She said.

With a dramatic sigh and a roll of his silver eyes, Draco dropped his wand to the floor and then took a step back. With his pointer finger, he cast a silent spell and Hermione watched as his wand turned until it was pointing in the direction ahead.

He looked at her once and she could almost read the message off of his face: _are you happy now? _She guessed he would ask, probably with an insult at the end. Idiot, she estimated. He seemed to use that word a lot.

"I was only saying," She defended herself. "It's not like I have a compass with me, although that would've been incredibly useful," She added as an afterthought, wondering if she could conjure one. She felt like conjuring something was cheating, though- despite the fact that Flitwick had told her she could use whatever spell she liked, Dumbledore contradicted that message by saying the only thing they were allowed was a wand. The situation was so hazy that she decided to play it safe. If she lost because of a silly mistake, Malfoy would never let her live it down and she was already sick of how much he looked down at her. He was such an arse.

Draco picked up his wand and continued walking. "It would've been useful, I agree, but he obviously had a reason for not giving us one, so please Granger, stop fucking complaining,"

Hermione sighed angrily, but looked on the bright side: he had said 'please.'

Something caught her eye. "There's another scroll!" She said, hopping over a log clumsily to get closer to it. Performing the curse check again, she unrolled it and was annoyed to see that it only held one sentence again, despite the fact that the parchment was rather large.

_You can't expect to kill someone and receive no punishment. _

"Shit." Draco said from behind her. She turned around at his expletive and her eyes widened.

A nearly transparent woman floated in front of them. Her whole body was grey and her hair floated as if she was in water. She bobbed as she spoke to them, but she was faced towards Draco.

"You hurt my pet," said the woman. Her voice was light and innocent, almost childlike, but her body was far older than them and her eyes were aged. She must've been in her late twenties at least.

"Your what?" Draco asked, squinting. At his snappy tone, her eyes hardened and she brought a sapphire-y blue locket from the pocket of her grey dress. The moment she held onto the stone, she became solid, but her whole body and clothes were still an alarming grey colour. She no longer floated in the air and touched down gracefully.

"We're sorry," Hermione attempted apologising. "We're doing a challenge for our school,"

The woman looked at her for a second and then back at Draco. "You hurt my pet," She repeated. "And so now, I shall hurt yours,"

In a flash and under a second, Hermione's hair was pulled back and something sharp was placed against her neck. She briefly saw Draco's eyes widen, but then her gaze was unwillingly pulled to the sky and she was forced to rely on her ears. All she could hear was Draco breathing. She shivered.

"Damn it, if you kill her and make me lose this challenge, I'll kill you," Draco retorted angrily. The woman threw her head back and laughter bubbled from her throat.

"You can't kill me, dear. See… I'm already dead," She said in a pleasant voice. She didn't sound at all as if she was discussing death- she spoke as if she was having a pleasant conversation, actually. Her nonchalance irked the both of them, and Hermione still struggled against her terrifyingly solid arm. She was like stone - grey and hard.

"You're a ghost," said Draco, almost in a questioning tone. Straight afterwards, Hermione heard him mutter another curse. He had planned on using the arrow, but if she was already dead, how would it affect her? He had to try anyways.

"That won't work on me," She laughed again, pressing the sharp black rock harder against Hermione's jugular.

"Don't!" Hermione shouted, aiming her word at Draco. She could already guess that he was planning on using the bow and arrow and although his aim was good, it wasn't good enough to _not_ end up hitting her.

He shot at her anyways, but a moment before it hit her in the forehead, missing Hermione's head by an inch; she dropped her blue locket on the floor and turned to mist again. The arrow flew right through her and disappeared into the forest behind her. Draco stared on confusedly and Hermione rushed towards him as fast as she could. She didn't want to be taken at a disadvantage again. She took one of the arrows from his tube and held it in her hands as a weapon.

"That won't fucking hurt her, Granger, she's like air," Draco said, looking around him. She was nowhere to be seen.

"She was solid when she was behind me," She replied in a panting breath.

A whoosh of air directed them to their right and they transformed into fighting positions once again. Hermione's leg twitched as she prepared to run and she fixed her eyes on the ghostly woman, not letting her out of sight.

She laughed again. "You can't touch me," She whispered, her eyes locking onto the arrow that Hermione held tightly in a fist. She disappeared again, right in front of their eyes and they looked around like crazed men who'd just woken up on a stranded desert.

She appeared quickly after and returned to the place where she'd held the rock to Hermione's throat. Floating with her head downwards, almost as if she was swimming, she scooped the necklace back up in her hands and gracefully landed in a cat-like position, solid once more. She stood up with a smirk.

As Hermione tried to locate her weak points, Draco tried out another arrow, taking the advantage whilst she was still solid. He didn't know when she'd turn into that misty-creature-freak again and he had to take the opportunity.

But before he had even drawn back the arrow, she turned to mist and floated above him, becoming solid again so that she landed on his back. He grunted as he dropped to the floor- she was way heavier than she looked, and he felt like a tree had completely collapsed on his back. He tried, with his muscular arms, to push himself up, but he just ended up dropping back down, his face hitting harshly off of the ground of the forest. Hermione took a horrified step back at seeing Draco so helpless and her other hand fished her wand out of the waistband of her jeans. She pointed it to the ghost straddling Draco's back and muttered a bunch of spells as soon as their incantations became clear in her mind.

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted, but before the end of the word had even left her mouth, the woman turned to mist. Draco, seizing the chance, lifted himself, but once her spell hit the tree, the woman became solid again, pinning him back down. Thinking fast, Hermione cast as many spells as she could so that it would give Draco enough time to get up.

He did, and the minute he knew that magic could defeat her, he got his own wand out and ignored the bow and arrow that lay on the grass.

They both fired as many hexes as they could until they began to break a sweat, but she simply yawned and hovered transparently against a tree. It seemed that she could only receive a beating when she was solid.

Draco breathed heavily. "Nothing's affecting her,"

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Hermione replied angrily. She hexed the tree branch above the woman to see if an inanimate object could affect her, but it simply fell through her form and landed at the floor. She laughed at them.

"Don't you get it? I'm indestructible," She grinned at them.

"Are you fuck," Draco growled, throwing more hexes at her. He muttered under his breath until the tree she leaned on finally cracked and toppled to the side, unable to stand any longer because of how many curses it had received. Hermione stood and took the time to think, retracing every step that she'd taken. How was she becoming solid? How could she touch them, yet she didn't own a scratch?

After that, the woman grew aggressive. She picked up a brick and launched it at them. It didn't fly through the air like a normal brick would; it shot at them, giving them only a second to dodge it. Luckily, none of them were hit, but the moment they staggered aside, she threw more. Rocks of all shapes and sizes with jagged edges were manifested at her side and she began to throw more than three at a time. They followed her every command, even changing direction when Draco or Hermione did. Hermione hid behind a tree, wincing when a rock caught her and grazed her bicep. She ignored the pain and huddled further behind the tree, wondering where the hell Draco had gone to. She hoped he was alright.

It was silent for a moment, and she no longer heard the thumping sounds of rocks hitting trees, so she peeked around slowly, holding her breath. She woman was bent over, in solid form, picking up their arrows. Thinking fast, Hermione hexed her and felt a hint of satisfaction when she was blown back against the fallen tree. Trying to wound her as much as possible, she threw another four hexes, growing more confident when she groaned and screamed in pain. But when she threw the fifth curse, the woman became fog and she hissed, hiding behind the tree again.

She steadied her breath, trying to find it positive that she'd finally harmed the woman, but couldn't help but wonder if she'd become even _more_ aggressive and on guard because of it.

Just as she thought this, a hand ripped her out from behind the tree. She held her wand up to the criminals face, but at the tip of her wand were grey, trustworthy eyes.

"Get that out of my face, you little shit," He angrily muttered, pulling her away from the tree and into a different direction.

"We can't go that way!" Hermione whispered. "The bow and-

"We can live without them," Draco muttered. "We need to get away from her,"

"Not so fast," The woman said, appearing in front of them. They both halted and Hermione turned, running back to get the bow and arrow whilst she had the chance. The woman, who had no idea what she was doing, ignored her and focused on Draco.

Hermione quickly shoved her hand through the hole of the bow and hiked it up onto her shoulder, grabbing the tube of arrows at the same time. She was about to shove them into her bag when something glinted near the fallen tree and her curiosity was piqued. Slowly, she moved over to it and picked it up, feeling the cold stone beneath her fingers. It was the blue locket and she could see now that it hung on a gold chain. It was heavy in her hands and she held it tightly, wondering if it could possibly kill her in some way.

She returned beside Draco and was about to ask what the locket was when the woman's gaze fell to her hand. She confirmed her suspicions by screaming,

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Draco also looked down at her hand and she could see him trying to work it out in his head.

"Why?" the brunette dared to ask, but the other female refused to answer her and instead opened her mouth wide to scream loudly and angrily. The sound echoed throughout the whole forest and some of the trees even rattled as if they were shaking, scared at her. The leaves quivered as well.

_She's had that necklace from the beginning_ Draco thought to himself, trying to connect the dots. He attempted to remember exactly what had happened when she'd held it, but all he could remember was that she continuously seemed to drop it.

"PUT IT DOWN!" The woman screamed. Draco took a step back and done a double take when he glimpsed at Hermione's arm- there was a crimson liquid seeping from an open wound. The contrast of scarlet against ivory hypnotised him, but he tore his eyes away, trying desperately to find out why the necklace meant so much to her.

"You need this- don't you?" Hermione asked, and she couldn't help but smile as she figured it all out in her head. "Every time you pick this up- you become concrete,"

That was the final dot. It all clicked in Draco's head and his mouth caught up with his mind. "We destroy that, we destroy you," He murmured in realisation. Hermione nodded, but didn't look at him. She kept her eyes focused on the female.

"But how do we destroy it?" responded Hermione. The woman angrily thrashed around- she was helpless without her sapphire.

"Killing curse?" Draco asked her. "Arrow? Set it on fire?"

Hermione nodded. "Set it on fire," She dropped it to the floor and the woman flew for it, but Hermione was quicker as she shouted _Incendio_.

As the locket dissipated under orange flames, the girl howled a blood curdling scream and her opacity lowered until she finally started smoking- literally. Steam floated upwards from her body as if the fire was burning her instead of the locket and then her skin began to peel away from her body and evaporate. Draco scrunched up his nose in disgust at the horrific image and then flinched as her bones fell to the floor.

"…that was…"

"Insane." Draco finished, swallowing. After a moment of simply laying there, her bones glowed blue and then sizzled and sparked, turning into another bag. Hermione frowned at Draco and then crouched down, ripping the zipper open. She looked inside and pulled out three scrolls, putting them on the floor as she looked to see what else it held. Draco kneeled beside her and opened the nearest scroll, throwing the ribbon to the ground.

_Impressive, here's your reward. _

"It's full of potions ingredients," Hermione said.

"I have a cauldron in my bag," Draco said quickly, remembering seeing one in there. Hermione frowned.

"How the hell did you end up with that?"

He shrugged. "It was just in there," He ignored her shocked face and opened the next scroll.

_Hermione,_

_We need to keep this short, apparently, although I have no idea why. We miss you & you're doing really well. Keep it up and ignore Malfoy, he's just being an arsehole as usual. Keep safe and I asked Dumbledore, you're allowed to use incantations to keep yourself safe. Put one around yourself at night so that you can sleep for the full night. _

_Harry. (P.S Ron was at Quidditch practice while I wrote this and Dumbledore wanted a message as quick as I could write, but I know he misses you too and we can't wait for you to get back.)_

Draco sniffed at being called an arsehole and threw it at her, picking up the next one. She was still rifling through the bag and didn't even notice.

_Draco,_

_How're you doing, mate? I don't exactly know what Dumbledore bloody wants me to write here, but he told me he'd pass on a message, so I guess I'll just tell you the shit we usually talk about. I couldn't get you any porn because I'm pretty sure he's monitoring this and I think you'll be back before you know it anyways- two teams are out and one team was disqualified for writing notes on their arms instead of parchment haha. Fucking idiots. I pissed myself at that. They literally wrote all of their notes down on their arms and legs and when Dumbledore found out, he went right through them. Honestly mate, you would've fucking wet yourself. This is supposed to be short, by the way, so I should shut up. Here's the cheesy truth: I might miss your company. __Might__. _

_Blaise _

He let out a small chuckle. He _might've _missed his friend's company as well. Hermione frowned at him and he relaxed the muscles in his face, his expression turning hard again.

"What?" He snapped at her. She blinked at his curt rudeness and shook her head, ignoring him. She'd just saved their lives and he couldn't even thank her. Prick.

"That's yours, by the way," He grunted, flicking the parchment towards her. She sat and read it for a moment, her heart filling with hope as she did and then she smiled, folding it up. She shoved it in her back pocket and picked up the extra bag, beginning to walk. Draco rolled his eyes at her struggling form and got up to follow her. After a few minutes of watching her struggle to carry two bags, he swore and took it off her, throwing it over his other shoulder.

"I'll take that," He muttered gently, softer than he should've said it, actually. He intended to snap at her, but just didn't have the strength. He didn't realise how exhausted he was. He nodded at her wound.

"Should heal that," He advised, shoving a branch out of the way. Hermione looked at her arm and winced.

"Ow," She hissed as she looked at it, finally remembering it. She had completely forgotten- feeling too overwhelmed with the letter from Harry and too tired from the fight. She guessed that was the second task. It was much worse than the first one and she was glad she'd prepared herself for it.

"Does it hurt?" The blonde asked nonchalantly after another glance.

Hermione nodded and squeezed the skin outside of the wound between her thumb and forefinger, trying to draw as much blood out of it as possible. She kept making that annoying hissing sound, so Draco dropped both bags on the floor and grabbed her elbow, pointing his wand against the large cut.

"I could've done that," She writhed against him.

He squinted up at her once and then shook his head. "Shut up, Granger," He said, but there was no bite behind it. Hermione looked at his eyes and realised that he was tired- he blinked sleepily every so often and the warm glow on her arm soothed her, reminding her of her own fatigue. He must've felt worse, though. He only had three and a half hours of sleep.

"We can go to sleep, you know," Hermione said, momentarily remembering the letter from Harry. Draco frowned down at her.

"Are you an idiot? Do you want us to get-

"I know charms," She interrupted. "I can put up an enchantment that'll hide us,"

"How do you even know it works?" He mumbled, doubting her magical abilities. Hermione lifted an eyebrow.

"Because I used them during the war, that's how." Her response was in an offended tone.

He sighed once and then looked up at the sky. It wasn't dark, but if they slept during the day and then woke up during the night, they may find another couple to eliminate. "Fine, let's go and find a place,"

"We could just go back to the lake," Hermione suggested almost timidly as he picked up the two bags. He stood in thought for a moment.

"How far away are we from it?"

She remembered the map. "About forty minutes, but we could take a shortcut and go that way," She pointed directly behind him. "We kind of walked around in a semi-circle. I don't know how long it'll take, but-

"Alright, alright, we'll go this way if it'll make you bloody shut up," He said, turning and walking away. She looked highly affronted and walked after him.

"You don't have to be so mean to me, y'know," She said, her boots slamming heavily off of the ground as she stumbled over large twigs and foots.

He rolled his molten eyes. He was growing so sick of her voice. "Yes, I do," He replied.

A crease grew in between her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because I hate you?" Draco suggested in a 'duh' tone. She chewed the inside of her lip to stop from screaming at him.

"Can't you just forget about your feelings towards me for this tournament and pretend I'm Blaise or something?"

He grunted and scoffed at the same time, grinning. "Alright then Granger, let's see your acting skills. Pretend that you're my best friend,"

Silenced by the shock of his attitude change, her mind raced to how Ron and Harry always acted towards each other and she thought. He was actually giving her a _chance. _She had to take it, even if she did end up making a fool out of herself…

She cleared her throat and lowered it an octave. "Who d'you think will win the Quidditch world cup this year then, Malfoy?" She asked, keeping up with him by swaggering a bit.

He bit the insides of his cheek to stop from laughing and then smacked his lips. "I dunno Blaise," He replied, sucking air in through his teeth as if he was thinking about it.

"Uh…" She hesitated, wondering how to continue the conversation. "I think Puddlemere United will win,"

Snorting, Draco replied, "They're shit,"

"Okay," responded Hermione slowly. "Then… what do you think of… Uh… the new player in…" She failed to remember the name of the team.

"Pride of Portree?" He suggested with a smirk. She nodded, her cheeks turning slightly red.

A sly plan forming in his mind, Draco's smirk became even more prominent and he forced the laughter away from his body. "Oh," He started nonchalantly. He shrugged one of his shoulders. "She's hot. I'd fuck her,"

Hermione's eyes widened and her blush spread over her entire face. "O-oh," She echoed him with a stutter. Realising what he was up to, she frowned and then shrugged in the same manner that he had. "I wouldn't. She looks like a horse, if you think about it,"

Draco arched an eyebrow, amused at how much she _did_ sound like Blaise in her reply. He was used to pointing out the negatives of women. "She has a nice arse though. Suppose you could take her from behind, then you wouldn't have to look at her face," He said, turning around to smirk at her. His smirk grew even wider when he noticed her uncomfortably shift her eyes away.

"Um… I suppose," Hermione said, trying not to let him have the upper hand. Then she said something that completely threw him off his game. "Or missionary- You could bury your head in her shoulder, then you wouldn't have to look at her…" She tried to steady her voice.

He couldn't help it. He spluttered out a laugh. "Mmm, yeah, that would work as well," He wiggled his eyebrows up and down at her. "That way you could throw her legs over your-

"Oh God, Malfoy, stop now," Hermione said, shaking her head and closing her eyes as she tried to rid herself of the image. She almost gagged and he howled at her with laughter, finally letting it out.

He decided to lay it on thicker. "Yeah, those three words are what they usually scream,"

"Don't," She said, resisting the urge to say 'ew' over and over again. "Stop."

"That too," He winked. In an airy, high voice, he replied, "Don't stop, Draco, keep going, oh yes, right there-

"LA, LA, LA, I'M NOT LISTENING ANYMORE," She flattened her palms against her ears and scrunched her eyes shut.

He chuckled wildly, trying to will away the sickening feeling he got at the fact he didn't know if he'd simply laughed with the Mudblood, or flirted with her. He decided on the former, but both of them were awful.

* * *

"So, what did your letter from Blaise say?" Hermione asked. They were both lying with their heads propped up against their bags, trying to get some sleep. She'd put the enchantments up fifteen minutes ago.

Draco frowned. "None of your business," He said shortly. Hermione almost rolled her eyes at his attitude. Aaaand Malfoy was back again.

"I was only asking," She muttered, shifting onto her side. She closed her eyes- she didn't want to look at him, and relaxed.

"Well don't."

Her eyes popped open and she stared at the grass between them. Had he seriously went back to this? Continuing on arguments when there was no need?

"… Please don't start," She sighed, closing her eyes again when he turned his head to look at her. Before her eyelids shut over, she saw him clench his teeth together and frown at her.

"Don't start what? Shut up, Granger, you don't know what you're talking about," He tutted.

"Nobody can see us, you know," She said quietly after a moment of peaceful silence. "You don't have to keep that act up,"

She could almost hear the angry air coming out of his nose.

"It's not an act. I hate you."

"If you hated me so much, you wouldn't have let go like that on the way home." She said. It was sad that he was angry at them both for having a laugh. She felt like she'd seen a glimpse of 'Draco' instead of 'Malfoy.'

"I could've been acting, you idiot. How the hell would you know if I even really let go?" asked Draco, his anger rising. Hermione swallowed, shook her head and then turned over so that her back was facing him.

Another few minutes of silence passed. "Cause you're not the only one that can analyse people, Malfoy."

* * *

**Thank you Calimocho, XDramioneLoverx, .breathless, roseberrygirl, SlytherinGurrl and BrightestWitchOfHerAge16 for reviewing the last chapter! **

**Calimocho:** Thank you for your suggestion! I used it in this chapter :) Thank you for your review!

I hope you guys enjoyed and I know that I told you this chapter would be up last night but I fell asleep whilst editing it :( I know, I'm such a bad author. I'll try and get the next chapter up tonight, but I don't feel very well today, so I can't promise anything!

**-FallenForTheDraco**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack: **First half: What hurts the most - Rascall flats (The lyrics don't match much... but it's just what I ended up listening to.

Second half: Misery loves its company - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

* * *

_**DAY THREE (Early hours of the morning)**_

"Stop fucking yawning, you lunatic," Draco snapped, yawning straight afterwards. Hermione's chocolate brown stare muttered one thing: _Hypocrite. _

"Don't you know that yawning is infectious?" He continued. "I fucking hate yawning and you're passing your disgusting shit onto me, so stop it," He shook his head.

She took a deep breath, containing her temper. "It's not my fault that I'm still tired, Malfoy,"

He glared at her from the corner of his eye. "You've had plenty of sleep; don't even try lying to me,"

"We haven't eaten though," She reminded him with a wide-eyed stern stare. He stopped for a moment as if finally realising that.

Frowning, he replied. "I haven't even felt hungry. If you're so desperate then conjure something,"

"I don't want to," Hermione whispered, tripping over a twig as she followed him in near enough pitch-blackness. "I don't know if it's allowed,"

"Dumbledore didn't say you weren't allowed. He can't disqualify us for his own mistake,"

Hermione looked up and down, trying to see anything. "I know but- I just don't want to risk it, you know? Once I feel hungrier I'll maybe transfigure something,"

"No, you won't!" Draco snapped, turning around sharply. She stared at him curiously. "You're not going to weaken yourself just because he wasn't clear on something,"

Just as she was about to come to the conclusion that he cared about her wellbeing, he opened his mouth. "If you're weak then I'll need to take care of you and I'm not fucking doing that,"

Hermione clamped her mouth shut and then opened it again. "I can't bloody take this, Lumos!"

Glad that she could finally see, she focused on answering him. "I'm not weak and I'll eat in a while, okay? I'll assume there are no tasks in the middle of the night so I have nothing to prepare my strength for."

He finally sighed. "Fine, but if you start losing weight, don't you dare ask me if I think you're fat. I'll say yes, just to piss you off, but I know you'll take it seriously, so I'm warning you."

She stifled a laugh. Yes, his comment had been in an angry tone, but she couldn't help but think it nice that he _warned_ her, and told her that it would be 'just to piss her off.'

At the sound of her laughing, Draco turned around, but his eyes noticed some ugly scars on her wrist and he frowned at them. His mind raced and the first assumption that he came to was that she was self-harming.

_Shit… is she suicidal? _

He had compassion for _anyone_ who went through self-mutilation. There was a time when he considered it himself, just over a year ago, and although he'd eventually decided not to; he still knew how hard the process was. Even if it was Granger and even though she was a Mudblood, he began panicking. Self-harming was not a joke and it was one thing that he didn't take the piss out of. If she needed help, he would bloody well help her.

He clicked his tongue, trying to sound nonchalant. How could he bring this up? They didn't talk, they weren't close. How does one 'casually' ask if the other is depressed?

_I'm going to have to fucking 'let go' again, aren't I? Shit Draco, you just shouldn't have noticed it._

But he felt awful for thinking that. What if he hadn't noticed and she continued to do it? What if one day, she went too far and he had just 'not noticed'? What if she was in desperate need of help and this was her way of asking for it? She had a jumper in her bag; she could've hid it if she wanted to. She even could've performed glamour enchantments on it too, but she hadn't seemed to do that.

He didn't know how he hadn't noticed it, but what shocked him even more was that _nobody else _had noticed it. If Hermione Granger purposely hurt herself, it would be around the school in a second. He knew for a fact that she preferred to wear three-quarter length sleeves, and sometimes didn't wear her robes or a jumper.

But he didn't need to _fully_ let go… he could just act it, couldn't he?

"So…" He dragged out, wondering what to say. He couldn't even think of the first word and didn't want her to completely freak out at him, so he decided he'd play it safe and not ask her directly. Instead, he'd hint towards the subject. "I wish I was tanned," He blurted.

That wasn't even true. He enjoyed being deathly pale. She raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged.

"What? Tanned skin is more interesting to look at, don't you think? I've looked at my pale forearms for too long now, they're beginning to annoy me," He said, pretending to inspect one. Hermione blew some air out of her nose in a slight laugh.

"Okay…" She said, not bothering to give her opinion. Her opinion was that Draco would look like an idiot with tanned skin- he was much better looking when he was pale.

Wait, what?

Better looking?

Yes, she decided. He was good looking, but he was still horrible on the inside. And that made him horrible on the outside.

"I mean, it's your forearms that you look at all the time, isn't it?" He asked, feeling completely ridiculous. How had he managed to start up a conversation on forearms? He didn't care, it seemed to be working. "And your wrists, I guess, when you're writing on the table, or making a sandwich… or… playing chess…"

Had Malfoy gone insane? What the hell was he on about?

"Right, yeah." She tried to agree in an enthusiastic voice, but she had no idea what he was even saying and couldn't follow his line of thought.

"Granger, are you cutting yourself?" He asked sternly, dropping the whole act. She processed his words for a moment before frowning.

"What?" asked the brunette, wondering how the hell he'd come up with that conclusion. He really had gone crazy.

His gaze fell to her wrist and she looked at it, swearing under her breath. She turned away from him and covered it quickly with the palm of her opposite hand.

To him, it looked like she had just been caught with a horrible secret. And she had, but not the one he thought. To her, it had become obvious that her glamour charm had worn off from the ugly tattoo that his aunt had given her during the war.

Well, shit.

He took a step towards her and held out his arm to touch her, but she backed away from him and held out her own arm after removing it from the reminder of her lineage, creating a barrier between them. How the hell was she supposed to tell him this? What would be worse, than she hurt herself on purpose or that his relative had done it for her? She shoved her wounded arm behind her back as she caught him trying to catch another peek at it.

Her mind raced. "You can calm down," She stressed quickly. His arm dropped, but his eyes still bore into her. They were grey and cold, but not nearly as icy. They held some sort of consideration, almost as if he _understood_ something about her. "I don't… hurt myself,"

"I don't believe that for a second," He retorted quickly. She took another instinctive step back, feeling as if any second now, he would rip her arm up to his face and inspect it.

"It's just something I got during the war," She tried to explain, but he wasn't having any of it. Like she suspected, he took some steps closer to her.

"Let me see it, then."

With a heavy and hesitant sigh, she brought her arm out from behind her back, but didn't completely show him it. He wouldn't believe any excuse she gave him, so what was the point in lying? She felt slightly ashamed and embarrassed, but knew she shouldn't have been. It wasn't her fault that she'd been born to Muggle parents, but the fact that this was a big thing between them, the whole 'Mudblood' thing, was weird. She felt like if the cold, harsh reality of the word was shown to him, he would return to his arsehole self and she didn't want that. He was being almost kind to her. He could've noticed her scar and ignored it, but he didn't. He thought she was self-harming and he… cared enough to mention it.

He tilted his head to the side, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Even if she'd finally decided not to show him, he'd already read it, and his face had turned angry. That was not the reaction she was expecting…

"Who did this to you?" He barked, his silver eyes flashing with an intensity she'd never seen before. "Who was it?" He repeated.

Nothing could've prepared him for the moment he'd read that word on her arm. He felt like a hypocrite, but ignored that guilty feeling immediately. He was pissed. Taunting someone for years about something they couldn't control was one thing, but _carving _it into their arm as a constant reminder was on a whole other level.

But there was also a creepy sense of possession that came with it. Mudblood was his and her thing- nobody else's. It was the stupidest and most horrible thing to feel controlling over, but he felt it, and couldn't ignore it. He was the only one brave enough to dare call her a Mudblood and he had said it so much that she'd begun to ignore it, kind of like a twisted pet-name. He had no idea where the anger had come from, but knowing that she had someone else out there calling her a Mudblood almost felt like she'd cheated on him for some weird reason.

Not only that, but he couldn't shake the notion from his head that someone had actually hurt her in such a way. And why would she have allowed them? She was the strongest woman he'd ever met and she didn't take any shit from him, so why had she taken it from this other person? Unless of course they'd had her at an advantage and tied her up, or maybe pinned her down, but if they'd done either of those things, then what other things had they done to her? He couldn't even ignore the feeling, and he had no idea why. He had no choice but to voice his thoughts.

"Who did that to you?!" He shouted at her, not bothering to cower away or apologise when she winced at his voice. It echoed off of the trees and a nearby bird was interrupted from his slumber. The poor thing flew away as if saying 'fuck this, I need a quiet place to sleep tonight.'

Her lips quivered as she spoke, and he almost didn't hear her because her voice was so low and so quiet. "Just… someone,"

"Tell me who it was," He growled darkly. She shook her head and pressed her lips tightly together.

"No. It's over and done with, and I don't want to remember it,"

"Tell me!" He shouted. "You don't have to be scared of them, tell me right now and I'll go and get them."

"What?" Hermione half asked and half whispered. What did he mean? Why would he want to go and find Bellatrix after she'd specifically told him she didn't want to remember it all?

"I'll go and kill them for you, if you just tell me who it is."

Her heart warmed involuntarily. Revenge just wasn't for some people… He knew it wasn't for her, but it _was_ for him, so he wanted to do it for her. That was so… _sweet_. It almost made her smile, but then she remembered the answer to his question.

How do you tell one that their relative almost killed you, and in their home, no less?

She licked her suddenly dry lips. "You don't have to do that. It was… one of his followers," She said, hoping he'd stop at that.

"Well?" He asked after a silence. "Tell me who it was,"

She had no idea why he was so affected by it. "She's dead, it doesn't matter,"

"Yes it does!" He shouted. "I still want to know who it is!"

"Why?" She asked in an exasperated tone. His mouth clamped shut.

He didn't… he didn't know why… he just needed to know.

"Just tell me." He said, and there was a hint of finality in his voice that made Hermione crack.

"It was Bellatrix Lestrange, okay?! Are you bloody happy now that you've made me re-live all of this?" She shouted back at him.

He blinked. His… aunt had done that to her? The severe truth hit him like a jug of water. He shivered and in a second, his possessive trait dissipated. His anger, unfortunately, was still there though. And even more so at the fact he'd been related to that… that… witch.

But that was normality to him. He'd been brought up with the knowledge that Mudblood's were beneath him and that he was better than all of them. Granger, though, she was a different kind of Mudblood. She was a different kind of person, too. It was like she had been labelled, but she was the one person that didn't take it as an insult and took it as a _challenge. _From the moment he'd called her it in their second year, it was as if she had made it her life goal to make anyone who called her Mudblood regret it.

… And on him, it had worked.

Or, he didn't _regret _it, per say. But he felt part of it. He felt like he was part of the reason she'd made sure _nobody_ could call her it, part of the reason she put so much effort into her work and part of the reason she'd turned a break down into a build-up.

He might've… slightly admired her for that. He'd chosen to break down, and he regretted it ever since.

But the fact that someone so close to him had used the same word and written it on her arm… it reminded him that Mudblood could hurt. Mudblood _did_ hurt- it had hurt her. He couldn't explain it. He felt the same way when he'd finally figured out, at a horribly young, but old enough to understand, age what his father done for a living.

He felt sick.

He felt _horrible._

It was just as bad as self-harming- maybe even worse. He wondered how he would've responded now if she'd just admitted that she hurt herself. Would it have been any different? Would she have cried? Usually, he was all against crying females, but he'd rather have that over this. He didn't know what to say to her. Should he say sorry? Was it his fault? Was the blame immediately shoved onto him because Bella had been killed? (And rightfully so.)

Did she hate him even more because he had been related to her? He couldn't help that his grandmother had decided to have three children and that two of them happened to be Bellatrix and his mother. It was out of his control, and if he was being blamed for that, then he didn't like it.

That was when he realised.

He couldn't control his family, and she couldn't control her blood.

Neither of them were to blame.

This must've been how she felt every time he called her that name.

How had she put up with it?

He felt… confused and lost. Everything that had been normality to him was _wrong_ and now he didn't understand what to believe or where to stand. He was shaken up.

So, how did he respond?

He responded in the worst way possible.

But he wasn't exaggerating. He had literally responded so badly that he felt like slapping himself. Or maybe he should let her hit him instead. God knows, after that comment, he fucking deserved it.

He grunted. "Should send her a thank-you card,"

His eyes widened in horror the moment the statement left his lips. The way she looked at him- the image would never leave his mind. He knew that every time he was relatively nice to her, she held onto it and turned it into hope that eventually, one day, he'd just be nice to her all-around, but any hope that she held vanished from her face and her jaw dropped. Her coffee eyes filled with tears almost immediately and he swore. Was Bellatrix cursing him from hell because he thought she was an idiot? He'd preferred a crying female, and now he was about to get one.

His heart stopped, and it felt like time had as well. He was cautious- she looked… well, he didn't know how she looked. Her jaw was open, her eyes were filled with tears and her hand had curled into a fist. It was like sadness, shock and anger all in one stare.

The way she looked at him, so broken, as if all of her hope had been shattered, shook him to the core. He was… so… so _sorry. _He had never been sorry in his life, but now he was. He was so fucking sorry for saying that to her. He didn't mean to and didn't even mean what he said.

She could snap at any moment, but the air around them was heavy with moisture, guilt, intensity and awkwardness. He had to break it. It was making him uncomfortable.

"I-

"NO!" She shouted before he'd even got the chance to say anything to her. She took a step closer, but he didn't back away. He had this coming. He deserved whatever she threw at him –probably her fist- and wouldn't hide from it. She needed it, and so did he. "You have no idea how many times I've tried to forgive you. I put my differences aside and although I make it look easy, it bloody wasn't! I've been _nice_ to you, and then you go and you say that to me? I thought you could change. I overestimated you and I gave you the benefit of the doubt but I am _NOT_ going to stand here every single day and take your shit, Malfoy! You are a horrible human being and you should feel _ashamed_ of yourself. How dare you say that to me?"

The silence was filled with her panting breaths.

"Do you know how much sleep I've lost over the years, revising book, after book, _just_ to prove to _YOU_ that I AM JUST AS MAGICAL AS YOU ARE?! DO YOU?! Do you know that _you _are the reason I stayed awake at night, just so I could pass every single test, every potion, every project, so that I could make you stop calling me that?"

He had a feeling her question had been rhetorical, but he shook his head in response anyways, his lips closed tightly.

"_You _are the sole bloody reason that I look twenty seven instead of eighteen! I made my own life _hell_ just because I thought it would keep," She poked him with two fingers on the shoulder. "YOU off of my back!"

"But it didn't!" She continued, throwing her hands up in the air. "Do you know she was going to kill me? Held a dagger to my throat after she pinned me to the floor, Crucio'd me and sliced that word into my arm? Do you also know," She gave a bitter laugh. "That before she died, she made sure that it couldn't be removed, unless done so with her wand? And guess where her wand is? I have no _bloody _idea, because it was _lost _in the war! I have to live with this for the rest of my life! I wake up every single morning and have to mutter a glamour charm as often as I _brush my teeth! _AND YOU WANT TO _THANK _HER?!

She listened to her own echo. Trees rattled as birds flew away from their nests. They couldn't be arsed with all of the screaming.

Her voice lowered and she spoke with more hatred than he'd ever imagined could be possible. "You, Draco Malfoy, are the most _disgusting _person I have ever met,"

With that, she turned on her heel and left him. He didn't bother going after her- he was flipping lucky she hadn't smacked him over the face.

A smack on the face probably wouldn't have stung as much as her words.

Good _God_ he was an idiot. So bloody idiotic. The biggest idiot known to mankind! Wizardkind! _Any kind._

He closed his eyes, letting himself collapse onto a tree as he brushed a hand through his hair, messing it up. His bag bumped into the tree and for a little moment, he wished it hadn't. She didn't hurt him in any physical way –although he swore his cheeks would be sunburned from his ashamed blush and his chest hurt so much that he thought his lung had been punctured by a rib- but she should've. At least then, the tree could've got its own.

He had no idea his aunt had tried to kill her. He, weirdly, couldn't imagine a world without her in it. He wasn't her biggest fan, but he couldn't deny she was a big part of his life. He had bullied her, she had made him realise what envy was, and they were arch enemies. She was a classmate; she was someone that he taunted most days of the week. Some of his best pranks had been played on her and she was the hero of the Wizarding world's best friend. Even if he didn't want to- she would always be in his mind, somewhere. He would always remember her face, her voice, her body. Even that bloody hair of hers. He would remember every single bit of her, because he'd been in her company since they were barely even teenagers. She was someone that, even though he wished she wasn't, had made a large impact on his life. If she hadn't been there, his whole life would be different. _He _would be at the top of their classes, his father would've been proud of him and it didn't seem like it, but that would've then impacted a lot of his decisions.

She was… almost important. Necessary.

He couldn't imagine his life without her.

But that made her sound special, and although he felt sympathetic towards her, that didn't mean he was suddenly her friend. If you can't imagine your life without someone, it has a positive connotation and their relationship was _not_ positive. The aura around that statement was all lovey-dovey and he hated society for making it that way. He could feel that way about her and _not_ have it mean something good.

He sighed out loud, pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes. He was… do you know what, actually? There was no word foul enough to describe him at that moment.

His face _seared _as he recited her words over and over to himself. He tried to avoid hearing them all over again, but they flew at him and echoed in his mind. In his head, he shouted back at her, screamed at her for even _daring_ to speak to him like that, but he'd been frozen to the spot.

He knew he was supposed to fold his feelings into a ball and throw them away, but they got crinkled and ended up spilling everywhere, making his body a raging hormone mess. He couldn't even pick them up- they fell everywhere and he could do nothing but accept what he'd said and live in the pain.

For a moment, he thought with dark humour that he probably felt worse than she did, but that was impossible. He'd seen her face. It would never leave his mind. It was like she had specifically reached up on her toes and hammered it in front of his eyes. It was all he could look at, all he could remember.

And if he was being honest with himself, he'll also admit that his heart broke for her.

…Well, whatever was left of his heart.

It was clear he didn't have one anymore.

* * *

The loud sobs racked her body, and she was thirteen all over again. She remembered the first time Malfoy's words had finally got to her; sometime near the end of their second year, and the moment was the exact same. She'd curled into a little ball and cried for all she was worth, until her eyes were out of fluids and her throat ached with silent screams.

She hated herself for crying over him. She was stronger than this and he was a filthy little boy with a tainted heart. He didn't deserve her tears and he would join his aunt in hell.

She'd been nice to him, tried to get him to come out of his shell. She'd even made a fool of herself yesterday just to make him laugh, but why was she making all the effort? Malfoy didn't care, and he never would. He was like a piece of bubble-gum stuck to your hair. You could pick pieces of it off as much as you wanted to, but there would always be bits left behind, and eventually, you had to just cut it all off.

She'd tried to change Malfoy, but parts of him were set in their way and sooner or later, she had to just forget about it and leave it. He would never change. What had she been thinking?

She didn't want to confess, but his words had hurt her. She wished he didn't matter, and that she could shake off his insults, but what he said always seemed to hit her right where it already hurt, wounding her further. If he hadn't been in her life, it probably would've been perfect.

Well, without the whole Voldemort thing.

She wiped her tears away and sniffled, but new tears just ran their course. She'd cried over Ron twice, over school once and over life in general once, but they'd been nothing compared to the pain that Malfoy seemed to be able to inflict on her. She wondered how he could be so mean to her and yet not feel a thing. She felt guilty after just speaking to someone in the wrong tone.

But the look on his face after he'd said it- he had been shocked, even at himself. She knew he hadn't meant to say it, but that's what had bothered her. She thought that, after a day or so, he would get used to her company and eventually just forget about everything, and she thought he had. Yesterday, when he'd laughed with her, she thought she was doing something right, but he still had the same opinion about her.

He might not have meant to say it, but that's precisely what had hurt her most- the fact that his eyes had widened, because he hadn't meant to _say_ it. Not because he didn't _mean _it. He did mean it, he just felt bad that he hadn't been able to stop himself from letting it slip out.

But she was wrong. Her judgment on Malfoy always seemed to be wrong. She always hesitated with him- she'd stood up for him when Harry had suspicions that he was a death eater, she had advised Hagrid to take him to the hospital when Buckbeak snapped at his arm and she'd saved his arse in the room of requirement. Was blood really that important to him?

She glanced at her arm and guffawed, blinking tears away. In a flick, her glamour was on, and she looked… almost normal. But she knew she wasn't.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she suddenly wondered what she'd do without him. Were they disqualified because they'd split up? No, Dumbledore had said that they _should _work together, not that they had to. But still, a part of her –a part she tried incredibly hard to ignore- worried about him and wondered if he'd be alright on his own.

"Aaaawwww," Someone drawled to her right. Thanks to the sunrise of the early morning, she could now see without her wand. It was crazy, how quick the sun could rise.

The black-haired girl stood in front of her with a sick smile on her face. Her partner had the same smirk and it was _his_ presence that she was afraid of. He was extremely tall and had large muscles with a head that supported medium length brown hair. He looked sweet and innocent, but the smirk on his face ruined everything and turned it all to evil.

The most she could think of doing was standing up, so she did, gripping her wand tighter. She knew she couldn't run - they could cast Levicorpus and then kill her, and there was no way she could turn her back on them. She had to keep her eyes on them at all times.

Suddenly, being beside a Draco that hated her so much he thanked her aunt for almost killing her seemed safer.

The girl pouted and tilted her head to the side, forcing her eyes to go wide. "Where's your partner?" She asked. "Did he leave you all alone?" She taunted.

She laughed and turned around to face the large boy behind her. "That's not very gentlemanly, is it, Clyde?

She boy shook his head and punched his fist into the palm of his other hand, staring at Hermione intently enough to make her want to puke. "It is not." He agreed. "Anything could happen to a girl like you out here,"

That statement scared her a lot less than it probably should have. She didn't know if he'd implied something, but he'd pay for his words before he acted on them- that, she was absolutely sure of.

"Should we kill her?" Clyde asked just as she swallowed, trying to think desperately of a plan. Damn it, why did their argument have to begin specifically at that time?

The girl tilted her head to the side again. "No, I want to have fun with this one,"

"But I thought you wanted to do that to the guy?" Clyde asked, his excited expression dropping.

Impatiently, the raven haired girl looked up at him again. "_No! _Well, yes, but not like that. We're torturing _her_ because it seems to bother him more when I pick on her," She said in a hushed tone, but Hermione heard every word.

Seizing the chance, she side-stepped until she was behind the tree and then watched them from behind it, breathing heavily. She contemplated screaming for Draco, but that would probably only make them kill her quicker. She had to think of something fast.

Even though the guy was tall and broad-shouldered, she felt like he was the weakest. He looked extremely stupid and clearly wasn't up to speed with whatever plan they'd created. She could probably take him out easily with a few hexes, but the girl was different. She was sneaky and sly, and Hermione didn't doubt that if she attended Hogwarts, she'd be sorted into Slytherin.

"_STUPEFY!" _She shouted, pointing her wand at Clyde. He was taken off guard, just as she'd suspected, and flew back into the forest somewhere. That gave her time to work on the girl.

Thinking quickly, she flung a nameless curse at her but disappointment weighted on her heart when she blocked it just in time with her forearm. Hermione kept hidden behind the tree and had to listen as the girl growled angrily.

The bark in front of her cracked under the bulk of her spells, but it still offered protection as long as it was still standing. She took some more steps backwards, still facing in front of her, until her back hit another tree, and then she rounded that as well, watching from behind it.

Soon enough, the girl followed after. Hermione threw hex after hex, but she blocked every single one of them. It was like she had a shield around her.

…Shield!

She cast the shielding charm that Flitwick had taught her around herself and then stepped out from behind the tree, deciding to test it. If it failed, she could always run behind the tree again.

The next curse bounced off of her and affected her in zero ways and she laughed in amazement, staring up at the girl. She had an envious and aggressive expression on her face.

Hermione had prepared herself for another spell, but not for a physical attack.

In a couple of seconds, Hermione was thrown back onto the forest floor, the girl straddled on top of her as her wand rolled away, just out of reach. She scratched at her face and ignored Hermione's screams of surprise and pain.

Hermione arched her back at the force of being slammed against solid ground and slapped her hands against the other girls, trying to block her in some way. Unfortunately, this bitch had long nails.

"Roxanne!" Clyde shouted, jogging up to her. She turned around for a moment, Hermione's wrists clasped tightly beneath her fingers so that she was basically stuck.

He laughed as he arrived beside them. "You got her then,"

"Sure did," Roxanne smiled evilly.

"What we gonna do to her then?" He asked, crouching down beside them. Hermione thrashed her head from side to side, trying to get her legs up high enough to kick her, but she couldn't. She tried twisting from side to side as well, but eventually stopped- she was just using up valuable energy.

Roxanne laughed darkly. "I dunno," She reached into her back pocket, gathering both of Hermione's wrists in one hand. When Hermione easily got out of it, Clyde grabbed her free wrist, and he was much stronger than Roxanne.

The other female brought a small silver object from her back pocket and grinned. Hermione looked on curiously but whimpered and screamed out loud when she flipped it open and a blade was released. It looked extremely heavy and sharp, and it scared her that she could do nothing. It was like Bellatrix all over again.

"Here, hold her down," Roxanne muttered, grinning. She put a hand on her stomach to hold her down whilst Clyde and her swapped positions.

On her back, with Roxanne above her, Hermione had a chance of being set free. With Clyde, she had no chance. He was as heavy as he looked. Damn.

"Now, what to do," Roxanne whispered tauntingly, waving the blade in front of her face. Hermione closed her eyes- even though she wouldn't _literally_ die, things still hurt in this place, and they could torture her until she was within an inch of her life. She would feel it _all._

"Cut off an ear?" She pressed the blade against Hermione's lobe.

Roxanne's face turned to one of amusement as she gasped. She gripped a few stands of Hermione's hair and pulled it upwards until it was visible to her.

"Or what about this pretty hair?" She asked.

But her façade of innocence and disappeared quickly and she bit her lip as she sawed a small strand of Hermione's hair off of the end. Hermione yelled at the pain of her hair being pulled and grit her teeth together.

"I wonder what she'd look like if we cut it all off," Clyde laughed deeply. Roxanne joined his laughter and then stood up, wiping some dirt off of her knees.

"Why don't we find out?" She breathed.

"Cutting her hair off is a little tame for you, isn't it Roxy?" He asked curiously.

Roxanne shrugged one shoulder and pouted. "You do something then," She purposely chucked the blade onto Hermione's face and Hermione scrunched her eyes shut- the last thing she needed was a bleeding eye. Luckily, the edge cut her forehead and not her eyeballs. Clyde was strong enough, and had long enough fingers; to hold both of her wrists in one hand and she still couldn't move. She started to thrash around again- if she could get him to just move a little higher above her, she could wedge her knee between his legs and create some sort of pain.

Her knee knocked his back a few times, but he acted like he barely even felt it. He ran the edge of the penknife down her cheek to her jawline and traced the marks that he found there.

"I could kill you with this," He said quietly, and he sounded like he was trying to convince himself to do so. Hermione sobbed.

"Don't," She choked out.

Clyde looked surprised that she'd spoken to him at all, but ended up just laughing. "Don't?" He repeated. "You don't want me to kill you? Well… That's too bad,"

"Just shut up and get on with it," Roxanne drawled lazily, inspecting her nails. Clyde looked up at her and furrowed his brows.

"I thought you wanted to do it?"

"Ugh, fine, give me that," She said, plucking the knife from his fingers. She was just about to crouch down to be closer to Hermione, but before Hermione even knew what was happening, she'd been thrown several metres behind herself and Clyde was looking up at someone, shocked.

"Get the fuck off of her," Draco growled. He brought up his leg and kicked him square in the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. Quickly, he pulled Hermione up by the shoulder and pressed her against the nearest tree. Her heart filled with hope, but she tried to remind herself not to.

"What did he do to you?" Draco managed to splutter out. The anger filled so much of his body that he could barely speak. He just wanted action.

Hermione looked at Clyde – holding onto his face for dear life- and wondered if she should lie for him, but she didn't. Her stare hardened and she turned back to Draco.

"He was going to kill me, and implied he'd do other things," She said, but it was clear what she meant.

Draco stalked over to Clyde and pulled him up by the throat, dragging his body up the tree. The boy, his head forcefully raised, scratched at Draco's hand and almost even drew blood, but Draco didn't flinch.

Hermione's jaw dropped slightly- Clyde was… was huge! How the hell was Draco even _holding him up?! _

"Got anything to say for yourself?!" Draco spat, sneering at the boy.

He struggled to breathe. "I was only going to kill her," He managed to get out.

Draco's nostrils flared angrily. "Yeah, I bet that's _all _you were going to do to her,"

"… I…It… is…"

Once Clyde's face had turned a rich purple shade, Draco dropped him to the floor. "Don't fucking lie to me!" He shouted, kicking him in the collarbone. The boy growled back and curled into a defensive ball away from Draco's heavy boots.

When Clyde didn't respond, Draco walked away from him and over to Roxanne, who scattered over the ground with wide eyes looking for her penknife or her wand –any would do. He stared down at her darkly until she was forced to look up at him. She matched his sneer.

"If you touch me, I'll tell them you raped me,"

She should've have flattered herself- Draco grabbed her jumper, not _her_, and pressed her up against the tree in the same manner that he'd done with Clyde.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" He growled at her. "I'm not a fan of beating woman, so I'll give you one warning. You fucking touch her again, and mark my words, I'll kill you."

The girl managed to laugh, but her eyes were all fear. She physically shook with dread. She was afraid of him. "I won't touch her," She agreed, then, her eyes travelled to where Clyde lay, shaking in a ball. "I can't say the same for him though."

Draco removed her from the tree, but slammed her back against it straight away. "_Neither _of you will touch her. If you do, I swear to God, it'll be last thing either of you do. In this world and the Wizarding world,"

"Then there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it," She said sweetly, smiling.

Draco grinned back and moved his face closer to hers. "That's fine with me as long as there's a _gravestone _with _yours_ on it,"

Her smirk dropped, but his didn't.

"Clyde," She called from over his shoulder. When he struggled to look up, she nodded her head and swallowed. "We're leaving, let's go."

Draco dropped her from the tree and stood on her penknife, but kicked her wand towards Hermione. He nodded to it. "Take that," He ordered, watching her scramble to her knees to pick it up. Her movements were hazy and clumsy- she needed sleep. And food. And healing.

…And an apology.

But he would leave that for last.

He waited until they'd left –Roxanne having to steady Clyde on her shoulder- before he picked up the penknife and walked towards Hermione. He took the wand from her, but said nothing and stuck it in the waistband of his jeans. He picked up the bags that he'd dropped and resized one of them with a spell, tucking it inside the other. After that, he picked up Hermione's and resized that as well. He threw the three bags –two inside one of them- over his shoulders and then sighed, walking the way he'd arrived when he heard her screaming.

She followed him wordlessly. She didn't know whether to thank him or apologise to him.

* * *

"What're the enchantments you put up around us last night?" Draco asked as he sipped on his water. Hermione answered with her eyes closed.

"There are a lot, but the two I use are Protego Totalum and Salvio Hexia,"

He nodded even though she couldn't see him and got up from beside her, putting his water bottle beside the bag that Hermione had her head on. She opened her eyes to make sure he was doing it properly and then closed them. It was so awkward between them now, more awkward than it had ever been.

She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat. It burned and ached from all the screaming, crying and sobbing that she'd done. It felt like someone had poured sand down her neck and she coughed. She wanted to walk over to the lake that they had returned to and drink all of it up, or at least fish through his bag to find her own water, but she was far too weak… and his bottle was only inches away.

She looked at him and his back was to her. She could see his muscles flexing beneath his black shirt as he threw up spell after spell. It would only be a little bit… and he wouldn't even know.

Despite the fact he couldn't see her; she turned away from him as she drank it, welcoming the cool, icy feeling. She actually had to stop and sigh in complete and utter bliss for a moment before she could take another drink. She put it back quickly; making sure it was at the same angle he had left it in. She wanted to drink it all, but he'd notice if it was suddenly empty.

After that, she found herself dropping off, but she woke up quickly when Draco dropped down beside her with a loud groan. He stretched his neck.

"I didn't think it would take that long," He twisted so that he was lying in the same position as Hermione and stretched his arms upwards, folding them beneath his head.

She didn't answer for a moment, blinking sleepily. He wasn't even sure that she'd heard him, but then she sighed.

"Yeah, it takes a while,"

"You can say that again," replied Draco. "My arms are aching,"

She looked away from him and closed her eyes again, not wanting to talk. His words from earlier echoed inside her brain and suddenly, even being close to him made her feel bad. He sighed and sat up again, crossing his legs. He thought she was asleep, so he pressed his wand to her forehead gently and began to heal the cut on her forehead. It was the least he could do after this morning.

But she wasn't asleep, and her eyes snapped open, panicked, as she felt the unmistakable end of a wand being pressed to her forehead. Was he just going to kill her and they would return to Hogwarts?

"Calm it, I'm just healing you," explained the blonde, his eyes wide at her clear silent accusation. Her features softened and she looked away.

"Mmkay,"

God, it was going to _kill_ him to admit this.

"I didn't mean to say that earlier," He tried to say in a nonchalant voice, but it came out kind of mangled.

She looked back at him in shock. He was apologising? No… No she couldn't think that of him. The last time she'd thought something good about him, he'd proved her wrong. He just didn't mean to get _caught_.

He took a deep breath. "It wasn't nice," He offered.

She swallowed and then blinked. "No, it wasn't," She agreed.

Sensing that she wasn't going to carry on with her statement, he continued. "…I… have my aunt's wand." He confessed.

She looked up at him curiously, wondering exactly what he was proposing.

"I found it in the courtyard," He shrugged one shoulder, wondering why he was even telling her this. "I thought she had dropped it, but then someone told me you had used it to get into her vault,"

She confirmed the rumour by nodding and he finished healing her wound. He didn't move away from her, but took his wand and hand away from her face.

"…Is that the reason she did that to you? Because the goblins told her what you did?"

Hermione swallowed and blinked sleepily. "Nobody told her what I did. We had the sword of Gryffindor and she was unaware that the sword in her vault was merely a fake. She thought I'd stolen it and asked what else I'd taken from her, but I hadn't even been in her vault at that time. It presented itself to Harry when he needed it. He and Ron killed the horcrux with it,"

Draco's shoulders slumped. "Jesus Christ,"

She nodded to her arm even though neither of them could see the wound Bellatrix had left her with. "She gave me that afterwards… Your father wouldn't identify us, but-

"My father was there?" Draco asked with a frown. He looked like hadn't known this piece of information.

Hermione nodded. "He was the one that they asked to identify us. They looked for you, but someone said you were with Snape. Your father refused to, though. He said that he didn't know who we were, even though I think he did. Bellatrix eventually figured it out and when Harry and Ron came out of the cellar, she was about to kill me, but Dobby unhinged the chandelier from the ceiling. It fell and she was forced to push me out of the way so that she wouldn't get hurt. Ron caught me and then we disapparated with Dobby," She finished the story, tugging gently on the edge of her t-shirt. She didn't like reliving all of those memories.

Draco looked down and blurted out something he'd never told anyone. "In the room of requirement, before Potter helped me, I watched Crabbe die," He said, looking down at his hands. He suddenly started to play with them. "He cast that stupid curse and then killed himself with it," He swore with disapproval, but tried to refrain from swearing. "Before he'd died, we argued about killing you. I told him not to, but he told me that I was finished anyways, and what difference would it make? I hated him then. Only I didn't, I was just angry at him. I think I called him a cunt. And then he just… died."

The silence once he'd finished was powerful. He'd never revealed that to anyone, and tension lay thickly in the air. He didn't know if Hermione was freaked out at his confession or if she was thinking about it.

"How did you feel?" She asked.

Draco shrugged. "I didn't believe it at first, kept expecting to see him lugging behind me with Goyle. I only realised he was actually gone forever when I went back into the room of requirement a few weeks later and there was just nothing there. It's hard to explain. The room was completely empty, but somehow it was still… full. Still had all that useless stuff in it, fire was still everywhere, I could feel myself sweating, but it was freezing,"

Hermione watched him intently as he revealed truth after truth and secret after secret. His voice was surprisingly soft and he kept his eyes cast downwards, shrugging every so often. It was such a difference from the boy she went to school with.

"I haven't gone in there since, but even when I simply imagine it, I can feel it all over again. I actually thought I was going to die," He gave a weak laugh.

Hermione swallowed, shifting her gaze when he lifted his head to look at her again. "We wouldn't have let you die." She said with a sure tone.

He grunted softly. "Yeah, right,"

"We wouldn't have," She insisted. "Ron wanted to," She admitted. "But Harry and I… we knew we couldn't leave you and Goyle there. I was just about to go back before Harry mentioned it. I always wondered where you'd gone afterwards," She frowned suddenly. "You were on the back of Harry's broom one minute, and then when we landed, I looked up and you were gone,"

"I… went away. Couldn't face any of you after that happened," His voice was so quiet she barely heard him.

"Thank you for telling me," She bit her lip. She knew it couldn't have been easy for him and felt a little guilty at her speech earlier- she didn't want him to think that he had to tell her a secret every time she shouted at him.

He didn't need to say sorry- the fact that they'd had a full conversation without him calling her a name was apology enough.

* * *

Thank you: fediva, XDramioneLoverx, roseberrygirl, meahela87, Geuh, Calimocho, GirForPrez, SlytherinGurrl, Guest, lovealan and superstarem for reviewing the last chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm finally going to sleep now, haha. I haven't slept all night and it's nearly 8am o.o so excuse me if I've made a mistake in this a/n!

-**FallenForTheDraco **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Soundtrack: **First three quarters: If I had you - Adam Lambert

Remaining quarter: Secrets - One Republic

* * *

_**DAY THREE (Day-time)**_

The sound of splashing water and the coldness of the wind awoke Draco. His eyes twitched rapidly before be finally squeezed them shut and then opened them up, squinting at the brightness.

He sat for a moment in that blissful second of unaware state right before he remembered everything that had recently happened and then groaned. He'd somehow, silently, apologised to Granger, but that didn't stop him from still feeling slightly guilty about what had happened. He hated the feeling of guilt though, and shivered to try and make it go away. He was used to shutting down all compassion, so it was easy.

The next thing he realised was that Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

He shot up quickly, looking around him to see if she was taking a walk anywhere, but he couldn't see her at all. She wasn't even at the river- had she just left him? No… the bags were still there, and she was smart enough to know that she wouldn't survive a day without them, so she was definitely around here somewhere… but where?

He got up and wiped his hands on his black jeans, taking a walk around the rocks to his right to see if perhaps she'd gone to watch the waterfall or something, but she still wasn't there, and he didn't like to admit it, but he grew slightly nervous.

Although convinced that she wasn't anywhere near the waterfall, he still walked towards it, as if it drew him forwards. It was spectacular- just as beautiful as the sky the first night they'd come here. He never really had any time or patience to appreciate nature, but since they had enchantments up and he knew they were both safe, he let himself relax for a few seconds and simply watched it.

It was strange, how a little thing such as water could calm someone so much. The running of the water was constant, and it never stopped. Even in a glass, he bet it still moved and never stilled. He liked that about it.

The calmness of his body evaporated though, and he was left with his body feeling tight and shocked as he finally saw where Hermione had gone to.

She was _in_ the waterfall, in her underwear, showering.

_Holy shit. _

He tried to look away, desperately _wanted_ to look away, but couldn't. He couldn't peel his eyes away from her, and she had no idea he was even there. His breath hitched in his throat and before he felt guilty, an emotion of arousal was prominent in his body.

He felt embarrassed for watching her, felt like he was, somehow, taking advantage of her. But he couldn't deny the pleasant static that had coursed through his veins the moment he saw her.

_It's just because I haven't looked at a girl in that way for a while… Nothing special about her._

True, he had been stuck here and hadn't _once_ felt attracted to her, but that's because his mind was constantly on other things. He'd had zero time to relax.

He found himself wondering- if he had relaxed, would he have found her attractive?

She wasn't the worst looking girl, but she was far from his standards. He went for long legged blondes that had no brain and were extremely easy.

She was none of that. She had a brain, and a good one at that. She was anything _but_ easy and if he was honest, she was way out of his league. But at the same time, he was out of hers too.

But he couldn't deny that in that moment, none of that mattered to him. She had an _excellent_ body –too bad about her face- (what? He had to say _something_ bad about her. Not a day would come where Draco Malfoy would say Hermione Granger had both a good face and a good body) her legs were quite long, even though she was a short girl, and her waist was curvy and flat at the same time. He didn't enjoy choosing a type of girl over their weight, just as long as they were healthy and happy was all he wanted.

But she had the figure most girls envied, and he'd had no idea. If he'd known Granger would grow up to have a fantastic form, he wouldn't have bullied her so much. Honestly.

He may have hated her guts and her bloodline and her house and her friends and practically everything about her, but he was still _male. _He was a teenage boy and his hormones were still absolutely everywhere, making him feel the wrong things at the wrong time and such. He shouldn't have felt attracted to her in that moment, but he did.

Her body was shiny with water and the weight of it tamed her hair until it was silky, smooth and straight. He knew that once it dried, it would be a frizzy, curly mess again, but it was still different to look at.

Draco swallowed. He definitely should _not_ be feeling these things, and especially not for her! Once she was… clothed again, everything would return to normal. Had he been in fifth year, he would've hid her clothes and laughed at her as she was forced to walk out naked, but he didn't even feel the urge to play a prank on her.

He was such a pervert- watching a girl shower, but he still couldn't tear his eyes away. Fear crept up inside him as he worried that he might not even be able to take his eyes away if she turned around and spotted him, and then he would be in _deep_ shit.

She was only a few metres away and even if she did twist towards him, her eyes were closed, so he would never be caught.

Was he seriously considering this?

Yes, he was.

He didn't want to be, but damn it, he hadn't seen or been with a woman in quite a while.

But he _couldn't_- it was _Granger! _She wasn't even sexy, at all; she was just… conveniently in her underwear for him to look at.

No, _No! _He had to think rationally. Blaise had warned him about this, and he wouldn't prove the bastard right.

Quickly, and before he could convince himself otherwise, he took his eyes away from her and ripped off his own shirt, turning away from her so that he wouldn't feel tempted to look back. After unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them to his ankles, he plucked off his socks and then leaned over the water until he fell in, flat on his face.

The shock and coldness of the water was a welcomed distraction and he held himself under for at least a minute before he resurfaced, gasping. He blinked several times; trying to rid the water drops from his eyelashes and then pushed his hair away from his forehead.

This place was driving him _crazy_, it really was! When, in his right mind, would he _ever_ find _her_ appealing? She _wasn't_. Yes, he felt bad about what he said to her yesterday, but he was _not_ about to become friends with her. She was so close to Potter that they were practically related and he would _never_ be friends with someone who was also friends with that… scarhead.

But damn it, he would've been lying if he said he hadn't wanted to undress her in his mind just then.

_No_, he _had_ to stop thinking about it. It just wasn't a possibility- maybe one day when they were older, more mature, and single and looking for a one night stand would he touch her, but not anytime soon. Never. Nope.

He pushed all thoughts to the back of his mind and then got out of the water, not bothering to look back and see if she was still there whilst he was walking away. He was not going through that thought process again.

He didn't have a towel, so he simply sat on his jumper and air-dried before he could get changed again. When he could, he shoved on a grey V-neck t-shirt and laced his boots up after he tugged on black jeans. Thank God he was thinking rationally again. He sat against the tree and grimaced as his tummy rumbled. His hunger had finally caught up with him, then.

He conjured his favourite food, a green apple, and bit into it, revelling in the crunchy sound it made. He'd always preferred green apples to red apples- not only was green a Slytherin (and his favourite) colour, but they always tasted better, somehow. Red apples were sweet, but green ones had an edgier taste to them that he couldn't quite resist. They weren't quite sour, but they were bitterer.

And that was what he liked. He wasn't sweet. He didn't have a sweet tooth, he had an edge.

She came back when he was half-finished eating and although she was now clothed in a dark purple t-shirt and black jeans, he still saw her in her mismatched, blue and white cotton underwear. Distracted for a moment, he swallowed a piece of his apple whole and choked at his thoughts, making her frown at him.

"Don't eat so fast, Malfoy," She commented in a stern voice. She was so used to giving Ron into trouble for eating quickly that she didn't even realise she'd said it to him.

He glared at her as he choked and then calmed down after a few minutes, rubbing his aching throat. It felt like the large piece of apple was still stuck there, and it probably was, but then she had spoken again, stealing his concentration.

"When did you change?" asked Hermione, nodding to his grey shirt. He glared at her.

"Five minutes ago." Was all he said to her.

She sighed and shook her head at his flippant attitude and moved to sit beside him. Clearly, Malfoy had made an appearance again. She had expected this though- he'd been nice to her this morning and now he had to be mean to her to balance it out. It was fine, she got him. He wasn't _that_ hard to figure out. Although she knew that he enjoyed to think he was.

"The fuck have you done to your hair?" He asked, frowning at the tail that seemed to be lying limply on her shoulder.

"It's called a side braid, Malfoy," replied Hermione, not bothering to look at him. He frowned at it and then picked up the end, tugging on it.

"Ow!" She said, even though he hadn't hurt her. It was kind of an instant reaction when someone pulled her hair. "Malfoy, what're you doing?" She asked, frowning at his puzzled expression.

He looked at it for a few more seconds before he pulled his hand away. "Nothing," He responded, looking away from her again.

She didn't bother pressing the matter. She knew that if she did, they'd end up at each other's throats as usual and she couldn't be bothered with that. If Malfoy acted like he had earlier this morning (_after _he'd saved her from another team) and when they'd actually had a laugh, she might truly be friends with him. But he didn't, so they weren't.

Something caught her eye as she turned and was about to look at him again. "Is that a scroll?" She asked, getting up quickly. It sat atop a pointy grey rock in the middle of the water. Draco squinted and then moved towards it.

"Yeah, I think it is," He replied, pushing himself up off of the grass to follow her.

"Accio scroll!" Hermione shouted once she'd moved to the edge of the river, feeling nervous, but giddy. She wondered what they'd have to do today. After having a shower, she felt great and determined to do well in whatever was thrown at them.

She didn't bother performing the curse checker- the last few had nothing wrong with them and she doubted that Dumbledore would purposely place a curse on the scroll.

It only contained a bunch of numbers, but after looking more closely at the commas, she realised that it was a group of co-ordinations.

"Do you think we've to go there?" She asked Draco, knowing that he would be reading it over her shoulder. He shrugged, blinking as he read them all.

"Might as well, we've got nothing else to do and it's still early. We only slept for about an hour. Well…" He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I did. Don't know what the fuck you did," He lied. She couldn't know that he had any idea about her showering.

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Not that you'd care, but I went for a shower. Why do you think my hair is wet?"

He should've laughed. He _knew_ she had gone for a shower.

He shrugged. "I didn't say anything against what you do in your free time, Granger. I merely stated that I had no idea what you were doing whilst I was asleep." He turned his back on her and then moved over to the bags, resizing them in preparation for their new journey. He left the bow and arrow out of the bag and kept it aside so that he could pick them up before he left.

"In fact… why is your hair wet?" She asked in realisation, coming up behind him. He stilled and his eyes searched the ground for an answer, but it obviously didn't hold one and he had to make something up.

"When I woke up and you weren't there, I jumped in the water to see if you had fortunately fallen in." He smirked, turning around to see her reaction. She 'hmph'ed' and kicked the back of his boots with hers.

"That's not funny." She replied, folding her arms over her chest. "If I'd fallen in, I could've died,"

Draco's eyebrows creased. "You can't die just by falling in the water, Granger,"

She frowned back at him. "Yes you can," She insisted. "If it's cold enough, your body can go into shock because of the rapid change in temperature. _You_ could've died, so don't jump in again,"

_Pft. What is she, my mother? _

"You're such a hypocrite, Granger. Did you have a nice _cold_ shower?" He stressed the word, arching both of his eyebrows at her in question.

She smiled sweetly at him, knowing that he'd underestimated her once again. "Actually, I enchanted the water to make it warm,"

He bit his cheek. He should've known she'd do that. Why would she willingly walk into a cold shower? She wasn't an idiot. But she was.

He raised his eyebrows as if it didn't bother him and smirked again. "Granger, I wouldn't die. I know how much you'd miss me," He teased.

She grunted at him, a small smile tugging at the end of her lips. "Yeah, about as much as I'd miss my period."

He sniggered immaturely. "You're comparing me to your menstrual cycle?"

She looked into the sky thoughtfully for a moment, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. "Yes. It's quite accurate, don't you think? All you do is annoy me and give me a headache until I want to _kill_ myself,"

"But then, your period is necessary, right?" He asked. She stilled as she realised what he was getting at, but he continued with a smarmy grin. "You need it to tell you that everything is working properly _and_ that you're not pregnant. So, in conclusion, I'm kind of important to you."

_Ha. _

She mock glared at him, enjoying their small banter. "Do not flatter yourself, Malfoy; you are most definitely _not_ important to me,"

"But if I didn't come one month, you'd freak out, wouldn't you?" He chortled, knowing that he'd bet her at her own game.

She frowned at him again. "What are you getting at?" She asked impatiently.

He shrugged a muscular shoulder. "You need me." He stated.

She grunted again. "I do not _need_ you at all,"

"But if I wasn't there, it could mean you're pregnant," He sniggered as she punched him on the arm and sighed angrily.

"My point is, Malfoy, that you are a pain in the arse and I wouldn't miss you if you left," She lifted her chin up and waited as he hoisted the bag up onto his back, waiting for his retort.

He held his hands up in defence. "It was you who compared me to your period, it's not my fault you don't know your own anatomy,"

Her eyes went wide at his friendly insult. "I _do _know my own anatomy, thank you very much!"

He shrugged and pulled the scroll from her hands, walking away from her. "Then you should know that I'm important,"

She blinked and then shook her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Because you know I'm correct." He smirked, licking his lips.

"_No_, because we're talking about a period- It's disgusting!" She said, almost tripping over a large log that lay haphazardly in front of them.

He scrunched up his nose in realisation. "Eugh, I didn't even realise that. You're disgusting, Granger."

Her jaw fell open. "Wha-how am I the disgusting one?" She screeched.

"Because you're the one that compared me to your bloody period!"

_Nice choice of words Draco, nice choice of words._

She adopted a smirk that was similar to his earlier one. "I thought a period was important?"

He shook his head ferociously. "No. I don't want to be your period anymore, sorry, Granger." He said as though he had insulted her.

She couldn't help herself any longer and burst out laughing at the conversation they'd just had. He looked at her once with a straight face before the end of his lips tugged up into a smile and he ended up letting out a deep chuckle, shaking his head at the absurdity of them. They were so ridiculous, but it was great.

She calmed down after a few minutes and took the scroll from him, unfolding it and looking confusedly at it. "How are we going to find this place?" She asked him, knowing that he'd probably hold the answer.

"There's a spell you can use to get there," He said, holding his wand to the paper. After a moment, a large black arrow had appeared on the page, pointing to their right.

They both looked up to the direction and he shrugged. "This way, I suppose."

"But how long do we walk for?" She replied curiously.

"Until the arrow turns and points at us," He responded quickly. Hermione grimaced at him.

"How d'you know that spell? We weren't taught that in any classes," She tried to remember, feeling a desperate urge to know where he'd learned it, why, and what else he knew.

He frowned at her. "You forget we weren't in _every _single class together, Granger. I was taught it in Divination,"

She accidentally snorted. "You took that class?" She asked with an expression of disbelief.

He glared at her from the corner of his eye as he felt her mocking him. "For extra credit, plus there was a chick in it that Blaise liked," He shrugged. "All you had to do was make up a lot of shit and then pass the final exam anyways. It was easy,"

Hermione chuckled. "You're right. You could make up whatever you liked and pass the whole class,"

Draco grinned as he remembered one particularly funny detail of the class. "Well, _you_ couldn't. You 'lack the requirements essential for Divination,'" He made his voice go higher and his eyes go wide as he done surprisingly good impression of Trelawney.

"Shut up," Hermione grumbled, still disturbed at the unpleasant memory. "That whole class was idiotic anyways," She said, using one of his favourite words.

Draco shrugged again. "True, but it was still funny to see you walk out on her,"

"Well no wonder!" Hermione burst. "She told me that I may have been young but that my heart was shrivelled up, like an old maids!"

Draco chuckled. "It is, kind of." He agreed.

Her eyes went wide. "How is it?!"

"Girls your age are into boys, sex, drinking, partying, and fashion. You do none of that, you just sit and… read." Draco cringed, scrunching his nose up. She didn't even live her life, she was just… there.

"I don't read _all_ the time!" She responded in embarrassment, her cheeks burning slightly.

"Don't you?" He asked her with an arch of his eyebrow. "What else do you do then?"

She thought. What… what _did_ she do? "I eat. And sleep." Was all she could come up with, making him snigger

"Jesus Christ," He commented. "You eat. What a rebel, Granger,"

She frowned at him again. "Well, what do _you_ do in your spare time?" She asked, knowing that he _was_ a rebel. He thought of the one thing he done that would annoy her most and then replied.

"Have sex," He shrugged nonchalantly. When he noticed her shocked and disapproving stare, his voice went a little higher. "What?"

"You're a pig," She spat, shaking her head as she smiled. He laughed at her with a massive grin on his face.

"How am I a pig?" He asked, eager to see what her answer would be. He knew it would be wrong- she didn't even _know_ him.

She licked her lips. "Because you see women as an object, you're sexist."

"I'm not sexist!" He disagreed. "I'm all for women being equal. I pleasure women by being with them, how is that possibly sexist?"

She shook her head. "You're so arrogant. You think you're fantastic. I bet they fake it,"

His jaw dropped and he frowned, but breathed a laugh at the same time. "They do _not_ fake it. Nobody fakes it with me."

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "That sure, are you?"

"I'm positive!" He snapped, appalled. "You're just jealous because you'll never know," He smiled as he gained the upper hand again

"Are you implying I'll never have sex?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

He smirked. "No, I'm implying you'll never have sex _with me_,"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Thank god for that," She commented.

* * *

"It just turned!" She alerted him half an hour later, looking up to see where they'd arrived. All of the other couples were scattered around the grass, some sitting and having a rest whilst the others walked around, looking for anything unusual.

The moment they arrived, a small scroll appeared in the middle with a pop, probably meaning that they'd been the last couple to get there. A girl ran over to it immediately and rolled it open, reading loudly.

"_Your next task doesn't include bears or ghosts; in fact it's relatively simple. You're required to climb a tree. _

_But don't think there isn't a twist. One person can only use their feet or hands, not both. Work with your partner to do so. There will be no winner. The last couple to climb the tree will be disqualified and will return to Hogwarts immediately._

There was a small silence that verged on uncomfortable before everyone started murmuring quietly, wondering how the hell they were going to manage that. The girl who read threw the scroll back down to the forest floor and headed over to her partner. Everyone seemed to have some sort of idea already forming in their heads.

"How will we manage that? We can't climb using only our hands or feet. We need both," Hermione complained, turning to look at Draco with wide and worried toffee eyes.

He shrugged. He was honestly stumped. He bit his lip, trying to hear in on other people's conversations. "We could use a sticking charm and run up it,"

Hermione shook her head. "We can't. The weight of our bodies would just pull us down,"

Draco sighed in annoyance. "What if we used my hands and your feet or something?"

"How would that work?" Hermione asked with a curious frown.

He shrugged. "You can sit on my face or something,"

They both stilled.

Draco's eyes went wide. "I didn't mean like that," He blurted immediately, his face burning. What the fuck had prompted him to say that? He wasn't even thinking about a face! "I meant you could sit on my shoulders."

Hermione nodded slowly, her cheeks red. "Right," She said in a disbelieving tone. He scowled at her.

"Let's just try it," He suggested impatiently.

"It won't work," She replied quickly. "What will hold you up? I'm not strong enough to hold you up with my legs or anything,"

He thought quickly. "I'll keep a hold of your legs,"

_Oh God, I'll never be able to concentrate like that._

"And pull me down with you when you fall? No. You'll just have to sit on my shoulders," Hermione refused, trying to think logically.

Draco caught someone listening to their conversation and scowled at them although he'd done the same thing moments ago. Their face went red and they looked away. "I'll squish you," He hissed.

"No you won't," She insisted. "I can hold my own weight and you can hold yours. You can pull yourself up and I'll use my legs to steady us,"

Draco rolled his silver eyes. "If I fall on top of you, I'll kill you," He tried to convince her.

"No you won't," She repeated. "Let's just try it," She said, echoing him as she got onto her knees in front of him. His eyes widened and he moved to behind her quickly. He did _not_ need that image in his head after this morning.

He put one leg on her shoulder and then stopped. He knew for a fact that he would squash her to death. She was tiny! "Seriously, I'm too heavy for this. We need to swap positions,"

Hermione sighed angrily and pushed her hair away from her face. "Fine," She snapped, getting up from the ground. Draco kneeled in front of the tree instead and winced as she clutched onto his hair to get her leg over and balance herself.

"But if you end up losing your footing," She continued. "_I'll _kill _you_,"

"I'll put a sticking charm on just in case. Don't bloody worry, Granger." He said, moving his head to the side so that she could get her other leg over. When she was sat comfortably on his shoulders, he stood up and let her grab onto the tree.

She made sure she had a good grip of the bark before she pulled herself up slightly off of Draco's shoulders. It took a lot of focus, concentration and strength, but she was sure she could do it, especially if Draco was there to sit on sometimes.

He held onto her thighs to stop her from going too high up and then pressed his forehead against the brownness, hoping to god that this would work. Once he had one of his feet in a study and safe position, he pushed them up and set his other foot in a small groove. They were officially off of the ground and onto the tree. Draco shook with the pressure, but held her legs in place so that they didn't fall backwards. Her thighs tightened around his ears and he was surprised at how strong her muscles were for such a small lady. She had been in a war though, he reasoned.

She raised another arm up and held onto a conveniently placed branch, using it to pull herself up again. She hung awkwardly until she felt Draco follow her movements and dig his head back in between her legs.

Between her legs.

_Oh God, Hermione, don't think about that __right __now! _She scolded herself.

His fingers tightened again on her thighs and she stopped for a moment, wondering if he was alright.

"Are you okay?" She shouted down to him breathlessly.

"Fine," He called back after a moment.

"Okay," She replied. "Just try not to lose your balance,"

But the moment she said that, Draco started to fall backwards and couldn't steady himself.

"No! Don't!" She shouted wildly, squeezing her thighs around him to try and keep him in place. It didn't work though, and he grabbed her legs with his arms before pulling them both off the tree accidentally.

Draco fell first, groaning and arching his back at the shock of being slammed against the ground, but the moment the small pain in his back started to disappear (thank goodness for not being too high up) Hermione came flying down on top of him, making him grunt as a new pain seared across his stomach where her elbow pierced him.

"Oooowwwwwww," She grumbled, holding her head that had just smacked off of Draco's jaw. He bit his tongue and squeaked as a few couples around them howled with laughter

He let his head drop back onto the ground and cursed himself for losing his balance. He never should've let his thoughts trail to her legs, but he couldn't have avoided it, I mean, they were wrapped tightly around his head!

Almost immediately, Hermione got back up, squishing his most valuable organ in the process, making him hiss, and then turned around to stare down at him. He could tell she was pissed before he even reopened his eyes; her angry breathing was louder than anybody there. Or maybe she was just tired.

"You bloody idiot!" She shouted at him, pushing her hair away from her eyes.

Nope. She was pissed.

She leaned down and grabbed the fabric of his t-shirt at his shoulder, pulling him up into a sitting position again. "Come on, we can't lose this," She said desperately.

Before he was even ready, she had her legs over his shoulders and was waiting for him to kneel up so that they could begin again.

"Bloody hell, Granger, give a guy a minute, my balls have just been squished to death," Draco moaned, putting pressure between his legs. It wasn't a massive pain, but it was enough to make him want to sit for another couple of minutes.

"We don't have a minute! We're losing already," She shouted back down to him, sending a worried glance to everyone else that seemed to already be half-way up. Shit, they were going to lose.

"Fine," He growled, standing up so that she could finally try again. She retraced her steps, getting a good grip of the tree before she pulled herself up. It seemed to go steady and Draco bit his lips, tongue and cheek to stop his thoughts from trailing to her legs again.

A loud scream interrupted them when they'd finally arrived half-way up the tall tree and Hermione turned to investigate the noise, guiltily smiling when she realised that one couple had fallen. They weren't last anymore- result!

"What was that?" Draco asked in alarm, his hands firmly planted on her thighs.

"Someone fell," She responded quietly, but loud enough for him to hear, still smiling. She heard him chuckle and then concentrated on the task at hand again, hoping to God that because she laughed at the other person that she wouldn't jinx herself and fall as well.

They struggled when they reached the top as the grooves in the tree became less and further apart, but they managed to get there eventually and hoisted themselves up onto the tallest branch, Hermione sitting on the outside since she weighed less and the branch got thinner. They panted and looked out to the other contestants- two of them were still moving upwards. They hadn't done a very good job of it, but at least they'd completed the mission and were safe from being eradicated from the contest.

Hermione smiled tiredly. She was surprised at how exhausting the missions could be, although they seemed rather simple.

It took another fifteen minutes before anything else happened- one of the couples fell again and the other got up safely. All of the contestants seemed to look at each other, silently asking what happened next, when the couple on the ground disappeared with a pop and a spin of dust.

"Now how do we get back down?" Draco asked, looking all the way down.

Hermione grinned, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. "We could jump," She chuckled.

Draco's head whipped up to face her smiling expression. "Are you insane?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course I'm not," She laughed at him. "I know a spell that can stop us from hitting the ground. I was just kidding. We'll climb back down,"

Draco nodded, glad that she wasn't going to pull him off of the tree in an attempt to have fun, and grabbed onto the tree, swinging himself round so that he could climb down. Once he was down a little further, he kept an eye on Hermione as she struggled a little.

"Are you alright?" He shouted up to her, squinting at the brightness and keeping still so that he could hear her. She breathed heavily and then swallowed.

"I'm fine!" She called back down, right as her foot slipped. She slid down the tree and fell onto his head, making him involuntarily let go and fall with her. They were higher up than the last time, and he was sure he'd break a bone if he fell from this distance.

His instinct was to pull her towards him, so he did, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist to make sure that she would always remain on top. He could deal with a broken bone, but she'd had too many injuries already. She screamed in his ear for a moment and he couldn't figure out what she was saying until something stopped his movements. He waited for the pain to hit his back, but nothing did. He opened his eyes and looked down- the ground was _right_ there.

In a popping movement, he finally hit the floor, but it was not nearly as harsh as he'd expected. He simply fell limply with her lying on his chest, her face pressed onto the side of his face. They both panted madly, slightly dazed.

"Sorry," She apologised in a quiet, throaty squeak. Her lips grazed his jawline as she spoke and he stilled, his body tightening again.

She swallowed above him, trying to find the will to move, but her body was still in shock and she simply lay atop him, breathing erratically. Her mouth often skimmed his jawbone as she panted and the small amount of stubble there tickled her lips deliciously, making her want to press herself closer, but she didn't. That would be completely inappropriate.

Finally, she felt her heart beating again and her fingers twitched as she commanded them to move. She put a hand on the ground above his right shoulder and pushed herself up, looking down at him. His eyes met hers and he gulped, still breathing heavily, but softly. She licked her lips before her brain snapped into gear and she got off of him, trying to ignore the cold feeling that made her shiver when he slid his arm off of her waist.

He got up a few minutes after her and they said nothing to each other, silently grabbing the bag and whispering away so that none of the other contestants had even noticed them leaving.

Draco scratched his neck as he thought of something to say to her. The hush was becoming far too awkward and he wondered silently if she thought he was angry at her. He wasn't- it had been an accident and not her fault that she'd lost her footing, but she had a tendency to think that just because he was angry most of the time that he was always angry at her. He wasn't.

The words reached his mouth a couple of times, but he never had the guts to actually let them slip past and fill the air. What the hell had even happened back there? So they didn't get up straight away, it wasn't their fault. It was their bodies- they had been in shock.

So why was it suddenly so awkward?

* * *

It grew dark very quickly and they sat in silence for hours, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Hermione busied herself by placing the enchantments up around them and Draco lay with his head on his balled up jumper, looking at the few stars that were out. He'd offered to help, but that was about as much as they'd said to each other. It was even more awkward at the fact they didn't really _know_ why they were avoiding each other.

Hermione knew she was uncomfortable being around Draco because of her thoughts earlier- she'd had the strongest urge to kiss him on the cheek, to feel his skin beneath her sensitive lips, and it scared her that she'd thought that about him. Someone that she disliked very much couldn't possibly arouse those feelings in her, could they?

Draco had no idea why he had avoided her. He knew that this morning had been weird for him, but it was a momentary lapse in judgment and it wouldn't happen again. They'd touched quite a lot during the task- well, not quite a lot, all the time they were there, but that was no big deal, was it? It wasn't anything that could cause some sort of conflict like this, was it?

He admitted that his levels of hatred for her had gone down slightly (she was much more tolerable when she wasn't around her friends) but they still weren't on good terms. They had a laugh sometimes, yes, but that was because there was nobody else around them. They had to count on each other for amusement and entertainment- it was their only source, right?

It just kind of irked him that he didn't feel like he had to_ rely_ on her for a laugh anymore, he felt willing. He was used to laughing with Blaise, but funnily enough, they had a similar sense of humour and their banter was always interesting and witty.

So, Granger had a good sense of humour, brains, a good body and an alright face- why did he hate her so much again?

Oh yeah, because of his family. And her friends. And her house.

But if all of those things didn't matter- where would they stand? Would they be friends, possibly even more than that?

It saddened him for a moment that such silly things separated them. He bet that if they both tried, they could actually become friends, and have a great friendship.

Did he seriously just think that?

Fuck. He was going soft.

He'd come here hating her guts, as usual, but he'd never anticipated anything like this happening. He had no idea what was happening to him, but suddenly that burning, angry fire that he held for her had just… been burned. It wasn't there anymore. She wasn't nearly as annoying and he wasn't sure if she ever had been.

He should've just resigned the position when it was given to him. He'd started this off, confident that they could win, but now they had spoken so much that he felt like he was on a personal level with her. He'd confided in her early this morning and although they'd been in an argument, it was clear they didn't hate each other quite as much as they had before.

It unsettled him greatly, but he'd shut down compassion for years and had caged his heart in an icy cold cell. How else would he have gotten through the war? He could do it again. He could make things return to normal. He could, but he didn't… really want to.

He had never had the 'heart to heart.' Never. Ever. In his entire life. Not with his parents, not with Crabbe, not with Goyle, not with Theodore, and not even with Blaise. But this morning, he'd come close.

For years he had wondered how one could just spill their feelings to another. It didn't appear to him and if he was honest, he saw it as the stupidest thing in the entire world. Why would you willingly tell your secrets, problems and worries to another person? It just wasn't for him. He didn't want people to know what he was afraid of, and he most certainly didn't want people to know his thoughts. He didn't _need_ the feeling of comfort that came with a heart to heart and he didn't need to be honest with people. He didn't _want_ to be. He hated talking about himself and despised it even more when people knew what he really thought about things.

But this morning, when he'd spoke to her, he found it so _easy_ to talk. His parents had sent him to many therapists- one when he was fourteen and had anger issues, one when he was given a mission from Voldemort and one after the war. They thought that maybe he'd get the help that he needed, but he didn't _need_ any help.

He remembered thinking about what he would say to them.

_I'm not at the top of every class, so my father abuses me and works for a mad man that wants to kill an innocent boy in my year. I'm a bully at school because I'm insecure about myself and I have no control at home, so I have it at school. The only person I care about is my mother and I want to run away because I don't feel like I belong here. I want to talk, but I don't want anyone to know. How does that even work out? _

But then they would be under the impression that he had bad parents and a bad home life, but he didn't. People would come and take him away from his mother and she hadn't done anything wrong. People would start interfering, even though he wanted to go it alone. He would get into trouble for telling and everything would just get messed up. Nothing would be the same.

So, he'd sit in a comfy chair and stare at the wall, ignoring the therapist until they sighed angrily and scribbled something in their diary. Then, they would go and sit at their office chair and do their work. They had wanted to leave him, but never had in case one day, he finally spoke.

Since it was confidential, he could tell his parents that everything was going fine and they would believe him. They had no other choice to.

He had never spoken about anything that bothered him. Even when Blaise asked about his parents' divorce, his tone was uninterested and he mostly grunted. He had a feeling that Blaise knew he was affected by it, but left him on his own. If he needed Blaise, he would go get Blaise, and he understood that. That's why he liked him so much. Blaise was there when Draco needed him, and that was enough.

Maybe one day he would finally snap and break down and talk about all the things that bothered him and although that bottle inside him was slowly filling to the brim, it wasn't quite there yet. He could bottle things up for a while long and stay unaffected. As he'd remembered earlier- he could shut down his feelings. If he had to do it until he died to avoid things happening, then he would. He was skilled in hiding his feelings; nothing could possibly take that away from him.

Plus, what stopped Granger from going to her little friends and telling them everything he'd spoke about? If he confided in her again, it disturbed everything. He was giving her control when he was telling her things and she could end up using it against him. Yes, it was nice, but he didn't doubt that if it came between her friends and him, she'd choose her friends, hands down, every time.

She was-

"What?" Draco asked, lifting his head back a little to look at her. She was upside down and he could barely see her since it was so dark, but he did.

She looked away and shifted a bit. "Can I come lie with you?" She repeated to him.

His mouth lay open for a few seconds before it opened and closed as he searched for an answer. "Why not," He blurted out.

She sat down cross legged and placed her own bundled up jumper a few inches away from his. Then she shuffled down and rested her head against it.

He watched her for a moment, but then turned his head back to the sky and swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing up and then down. Hermione rested her overlapped hands on her stomach and breathed in deeply.

"That one kind of looks like Cygnus," Hermione said, lifting her finger to point at a group of stars. Draco looked to where she was pointing, shuffling a little closer to her so that he could see from her point of view.

"Oh yeah," He murmured. "I've been trying to figure out if that's Gemini or Canis Minor," He commented, pointing to one not far away from the cross.

She grimaced a little. "Can't help you with that, sorry. It's probably Gemini though, the stars look kind of equal in size,"

"Hm, probably," Draco commented. "What's your star sign?" He asked her.

"Virgo," She responded, turning to him when he started laughing.

"How fitting, Virgin," He smirked. She could just barely see the tug of his lips. "That could be Virgo," He said after a moment, pointing and trailing his finger along the stars.

She humphed a little and shifted, tonguing her cheek. "What's yours then?" She asked, determined to find his.

"Gemini," He replied, listening to her sigh.

After a moment's pause, Draco spoke up. "How ironic is it that Virgo looks kind of like a woman who's fell on her back with her legs spread in the air?"

Hermione joined his laughter after a moment, bringing her knees up to rest her foot flat on the ground. She knocked them together a few times.

"It kind of does actually," She said, tilting her head a little, breathing another laugh. "This is fun," She commented.

Draco swallowed. He hadn't even realised that he'd been having fun.

"Uh, yeah," He responded a little unsurely. "Yeah, it is,"

He sensed her turn to look at him and kept his eyes forward, not bothering to glance at her until he heard her head turn back around, but it didn't.

"I've never really looked at constellations before," She told him. Draco grunted softly.

"I've done it tonnes of times," He said. "Not as often now. It was something I done when I was younger,"

"Why don't you do it as much anymore?" She asked curiously.

He gulped again and then shrugged. "Dunno. Just busy, I s'pose,"

Hermione pressed her lips together tightly, looking back at the sky. He'd sounded kind of sad, but she didn't want to press him into telling her anything, especially after this morning.

"Draco," She said suddenly, and her abruptness caused him to turn his head towards her.

"What?" He asked when she didn't say anything else. She shook her head and pointed to the sky.

"No, look. That could be Draco," She pointed to a long line of stars with a small wonky square at the end.

"Hm, could be," He agreed. "If it is, then it's out early though. Usually visible in July,"

"Really?" She asked, humming afterwards. She hadn't known that. "What's your favourite?"

Draco took a moment to think. "Astraea," He replied in an unsteady voice. She frowned.

"I don't know that one," She murmured.

_Thank fuck for that. _Draco thought to himself. "What's yours?" He asked after a small moment.

"I don't really know. I don't know how to choose a favourite. How did you choose yours?" She asked.

Draco laughed inside his head. He knew he'd have to tell a lie now. "I read about the stories behind them," He said. It wasn't _exactly _a lie- he had read all of the stories about constellations.

"So, what's the story of yours?" She asked, turning around on her hip to rest her head on her palm that was held up by her elbow.

Draco took a deep breath. "The story is that Hades is so… captivated by the virginal beauty of Persephone that he steals her away to the underworlds to be his wife. Crazy, I know," Draco murmured. "Her mum, Demeter, was so upset that she completely neglected her duties as the goddess of agriculture, and the entire world ended up hungry because she didn't produce anything. Zeus decided that this, basically wasn't on, and said that Persephone should come back from the underworld and be with her mother for part the year, from March until August, which are the months that the constellation appears in the sky, and then Demeter does her duties again. But when Persephone leaves her mother in autumn, and goes back to her husband in the underworld, Demeter abandons her duties again, and the earth goes hungry until next Spring, when she comes back. It's like a cycle,"

Hermione frowned. "Isn't that the story behind Virgo?"

Draco swallowed. "…Yeah… Virgo is known as Astraea in some places,"

"Oh," Hermione muttered. She didn't know what to make of the fact that Draco's favourite constellation happened to be her zodiac sign.

Was it a coincidence?

* * *

**Thank you roseberrygirl, GirForPrez, fediva, XDramioneLoverx, Borealis, .breathless, SlytherinGurrl, HedwigRiddle, Alice D and Eternally Free for reviewing the last chapter! I love your reviews. They make me so happy and motivated! **

**Borealis: **Thank you very much! I admit that I struggle a little with development of characters and that's why I've tried so hard during this story. I want to try and make myself better at it, so your words mean a lot! Thank you for reviewing.

** .breathless: **Haha! I liked that bit too. I'm trying to keep a good balance between confused/angry Draco and playful/always smirking Draco, because I feel like those are the two most prominent parts of his personality! I'm so glad you enjoyed those parts and that's what I was going for so I'm glad you've noticed it! Thank you for reviewing!

**It's already 1am, so I'll try and answer any questions you guys have tomorrow (if you happen to have any) just leave them in a review and I'll definitely reply! **

**-FallenForTheDraco **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack: Beginning: **La Roux - Bulletproof (not really anything to do with the chapter... I just like the song, sorry)

**Middle (during the task):** The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack - Like a dog chasing cars - Hans Zimmer

**End:** I just started listening to Bulletproof again.

By the way, just as a little side-note, listen to "Release Me - Agnes," If you are a Dramione fan. I don't usually like techno/poppy music, but the lyrics are really spot on for a Dramione fiction! Just a little note :) Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_**DAY FOUR **_

"Alright, smart arse. What would I do if I got bad exam results?" Draco asked smugly.

Hermione thought for a moment and then grinned. "You'd probably kill yourself."

Whatever smirk Draco held on his face dropped and he scowled at her. "Fine, maybe you're not bad at analysing people,"

"I'm fantastic at analysing people," Hermione corrected with an air of triumph.

"You're pushing your luck. Not bad is the best you're gonna get," Draco said honestly. Hermione smiled lightly- it was better than nothing. At least he was admitting she wasn't _bad._

"Now see how well you know me," She said enthusiastically. He rolled his eyes and readjusted himself, leaning against the tree.

"Right, fine, go on," He offered lazily. "But I warn you right now, I know everything about you, so,"

Hermione thought. "What would _I _do if I failed all of my exams? Not that I ever would," She scoffed lightly.

Draco smirked. "It's a tie between killing yourself and demanding a resit. Or going insane and you're already half way there, by the way,"

Hermione glared at him. "What would I do if… if…"

"Let's just play this the other way around, Granger. Your way is far too confusing for even you to understand," Draco complained, shaking his head.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll play it your way. What would _you_ do if… Ron bet you in a class?"

Draco's eyes turned livid. "I'd kill him. It's one thing having _you_ above me, fucking hell, what a question. Right, what would you do if… you found out Weasley and Potter had a threesome?" He smirked.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "You are disgusting. They wouldn't do that… and if they _did_ happen to… do that… then I'd be happy for them. They're my best friends," She reminded, ignoring his sniggering. "What would you do if… you found out Blaise was seeing Pansy behind your back?" She asked lamely, feeling limited to friends and school.

He snorted. "Fucking let them. Why would I care what Pansy does?" That was all he said on the matter. "What would you do if… you were told you had an hour left to live?"

"Good question," She nodded. "Uh… I'd let everyone important know that I loved them… that's it, I suppose… What would you do if you found the elder wand?"

Draco swallowed. He'd thought about that before. "I dunno," He replied truthfully. "Probably fix a few things. What would you do if Voldemort returned?"

Frowning at both his vague answer and horrible question, she shuddered. "I don't… really know. He can't return." She said almost mechanically, trying to remind herself. "He never will. But if he did, then… we'd take him down again."

Draco looked at her peculiarly as she answered. That question seemed to have quite an effect on her. "It's your turn," He reminded.

She nodded. "Uh… What would you do if you found out you had a long lost sister or something?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Kill whichever of my parents cheated?" He suggested with a kind of 'duh' tone. "Well… unless it was my mother… What would you do if we got stuck here forever?" He asked, looking around them.

Hermione blinked and then frowned. "I'm not really sure… I hope we don't, but I guess I'd try and find a way out or something. What would you do if we won?"

He shrugged. "Feel proud? Gloat? What would you do if we lost?"

She laughed lightly. "I dunno. Probably be disappointed, but I'd feel glad that I had the experience. What would you do if you woke up as a woman?" She asked with another laugh.

He snorted as if it was obvious. "Show myself a good time," He answered, smirking and laughing when she sent him a disgusted glare. His laughter faded quietly and he took on a serious and almost sad expression. "What would you have done if you'd been in my position, during the war?"

Hermione swallowed and looked away from him, finding the sudden mood change uncomfortable. Straightforwardly, she answered. "I'd do the same thing as you did," She shrugged.

He watched her with a small frown. "Why?"

She took a deep breath in. "Well… if my parents' lives were threatened, I'd do whatever I was told to keep them safe, because I care about them,"

He nodded once and then blinked. "What would you do if you'd been born a squib?"

He laughed bitterly. "I wouldn't even be _here_ to do something about it," He said, hinting at what would've happened to him.

Hermione frowned. "Why not?" She asked.

"Because I would've been aborted?" He replied, looking at her sternly. Hermione drew back and blinked furiously.

"What? You would've been aborted just because of something you couldn't even-

"Yes, Granger, I would've been bloody aborted. Lineage matters to us, remember?" He shouted at her, making her grimace.

There was a long silence before she sighed. "What would you do if I told you I was sorry?"

He grunted. "Tell you that you had nothing to be sorry about. Not like you know me, how can I blame you for not knowing?"

Hermione continued. "I'd probably still apologise,"

Unwilling to play the game anymore, Draco stood up and walked away from her angrily after replying, "Then you're an idiot."

She stared at his back incredulously. One minute he was fine, the next minute he walked off in a huff. His mood swings were truly agitating, and she was beginning to wonder if he had them on purpose, just to annoy her. Everything depended on what she said. If she was nice to him, he was surprisingly nice back, but she couldn't always walk on eggshells around him and be scared to ask direct and important questions about himself. When she did happen to ask questions, he grew annoyed and ended up walking away from her. She wondered if he had to tell himself to walk away so that he wouldn't end up hexing her or if he simply didn't want to speak to her anymore.

How would Ron or Harry act if they were here with Malfoy? Would they act like she did, slowly try and get to know him so that it was easier for both of them, or would they keep talking and everything else to a minimal? Would they have hexed each other by now? And if so, how serious would their injuries be?

He was such a confusing prat, taking two steps forward and then a hundred back. He probably just felt guilty about what he'd said to her yesterday and was trying to make up for it, but with a sort of distance.

Yes, that's the sort of thing Malfoy would do. He wasn't one to apologise directly, he was the sort of person who respectably knew when he was wrong and gestured it, doing nothing more, returning to his old ways.

He was an arrogant and clever but cunning piece of work. He still thought himself to be the best, and above her, but he was slowly adjusting to her. Had Harry and Ron been here, she didn't think he would've made progress at all, but it had only been four days and already they were on speaking terms. That was great, right? Only four days it had taken, and although it was still a slow transition from insulting to actual conversation, that was still a good result.

But now she'd obviously upset him by asking about the squib thing- that was the trouble with this game. She'd purposely asked him to play, trying to sneakily find out more about him. He'd accepted of course, interested to see what her little game was about and she'd bribed him and by telling him 'I know everything about you as well, by the way.' He had wanted to prove her wrong, and so on those terms, it had been relatively easy.

Although she was only limited to mostly questions about school and friends and the tournament, the sole purpose of the game was to get to know him, so she _had_ to ask more difficult things. It was just… unpleasant because he always ended up walking away from her. It was almost as if she was failing her own little project, and she did _not_ enjoy failing.

* * *

Malfoy grumbled, throwing a stone into the overflowing waterfall. How dare she ask him that? She knew that blood and magic were the most important things to him and his family. She was so selfish, asking things that she knew were secretive and then judging them. She had no idea about how he'd been brought up and she also had no idea about how the importance of magic and blood had been drilled into his mind from a young age. How would she feel, in his position? How would she feel if he'd asked her a question about Potter, or about her blood? She would've taken it as an insult, just like he had.

And she had the gall to look at him with those wide brown eyes as she done so, as if trying to silently communicate that abortion was wrong and that it was inhumane. Yes, abortions weren't very nice, but that was how the Malfoy family worked. It was all magic, all pureblood. You weren't a pureblood or magic, you were kicked out straight away. Literally.

It wasn't his fault- he wasn't to blame for any of this. He didn't know when it had begun (curse him for not knowing his own ancestors) and he didn't know who suddenly thought one day that Muggleborns were… well…. abominations. He had no idea that he'd grow up doubting everything he's been taught since he was a toddler. Everything was suddenly… just wrong. His family were so judgmental and if he was completely and utterly honest, they weren't even correct.

But how could he possibly blurt that out to his father? This lifestyle had gone on so long that there were thousands of pureblood families that frowned upon Muggleborns now and just because he, a teenage boy, happened to see the light didn't mean that everyone else would. No, they wouldn't be considerate, they wouldn't reflect on his discovery. They would kick him out and class him as beneath them all.

It was shit, too, because all the pureblood girls had grown up to be spoiled little bitches that had no brain and cried whenever something didn't go their way.

His life had been prepared and set up for him since even before he was born. Do good at school, get a good job, carry on the Malfoy industries, have an heir, and that was it. Such a boring fucking life. Maybe when he was older he'd want to settle down and work all the time, but right now, he wanted none of that. He couldn't rebel and run off with the girl of his dreams because let's face it, there was no 'girl of his dreams' and he didn't even have a job. He would never be able to support himself and although he had the perfect grades for a perfect job, he had still grown up with tonnes of money. He couldn't imagine his life without money now. It hadn't completely brainwashed him, but he still enjoyed… luxuries. And could you blame him for that? Like he previously mentioned, it wasn't his fault. He'd been doomed from the beginning.

He hated his families ways and he wanted to rebel, he'd always been a rebel, but suddenly there was nothing he could do. He'd rebelled so much in the past that he came to the line- the next thing he done could have him kicked out.

The ultimate thing to do would be to fall in love with a Muggleborn, or better yet, a _muggle_ and then have a baby with them- a baby _girl. _It would drive his father so bonkers that he would have a heart attack from simply hearing the news. He smirked a little at that.

But if he done that, it wouldn't be just _rebelling _anymore, it would be completely crossing that line, and anything less that he done was just considered… feeble. He couldn't anger his father anymore because his father knew of all the tricks he had up his sleeve and in all honesty, didn't even care anymore.

It was _so_ frustrating, having all of these expectations that you didn't want to live up to.

He didn't want a brainless, good looking, pureblood girlfriend and he didn't want to have her little pureblooded brats. He didn't want a stable job and he didn't want money _easily_. He wanted to earn things and feel proud when he'd accomplished something. He wanted a girlfriend who loved him and wouldn't marry him just for his money and because he was good to have on her arm. He didn't want a stable job; he wanted to do many things. He wanted to be confused about his life and then know that he'd finally chosen the right occupation when, on his first day, everything just felt right and he _enjoyed_ it.

He didn't want… safety. He wanted passion, fireworks, anxiety, excitement and always feeling like he was on the edge. Sometimes, he didn't want a safety net. He wanted to fall, and see how he would bring himself back up. He just wanted to be his own person.

But he couldn't be. He was a coward, and as much as he wanted all of that, it would be more secure _not_ to do those things. He would just be unhappy for the rest of his life. His face would stay stoic, he'd never reveal his true feelings, his mum and dad would remain being called mother and father, he'd do well in school, he'd grow up and marry a beautiful (but brainless) pureblooded woman and he'd have all of her little brat children. He'd pass the industry onto his son, and if his son ever came to him saying 'father, I don't want to do this' then he'd bloody well listen. He'd help his son, or daughter, and be the best father that he possibly could. He'd bring them up so that they could speak openly and when they worried about something, he would be the first person that they thought of running to.

He would give them everything that he couldn't have.

It was the most he could do. At least then, he'd maybe live the life he'd wanted through _them._ Other than that, there was nothing he could do about it.

He constantly had all of the control, but zero control. Did that… make sense? He had all the control in the world, he was a Malfoy, but then again, his father still held all of the control, so he had none. For once, he wanted to _lose_ control, but he didn't want to rely on his father to keep him upright.

He wanted to… have fun. Relax, not worry about a thing, know that the world was his oyster and he could do whatever he wanted with it. But he also needed someone who would choose the best for him, because he still couldn't do that on his own. He didn't really know what was best. Would he set some sort of trend, a good impression, if he defied his father? Or was it a good thing that he _followed_ in his father's footsteps?

He was like a baby dragon, craving comfort and love but he was expected to grow up and roar and be scary. He didn't want that. What if he wanted to be a nice dragon? What if he wanted to flap his wings and fly away to a world where nobody could tell him what to do? Would the father dragon fly after him and drag him back, or would he let him go, knowing that he wasn't ready for everything?

Before Draco could convince himself any different, with a whirl of passion and determination inside of his stomach, he walked back over to Hermione, who was still sitting leaning on the tree, and swallowed.

"What would you do if you wanted to do different than everybody expected, but you couldn't because you would be seen as a disgrace?" He asked her quickly, sitting down beside her again.

Hermione thought for a moment. She had a clue as to why he'd asked her the question, but probably overestimated her own worth towards him.

"I'd do it anyways," She answered, making his mind reel. "If… what I was expected to do was… not what _I_ wanted, I wouldn't do it. Life is about making yourself happy, not everyone else."

He nodded and then bit his lip. "But what would you do if, after you made that decision, everyone hated you because of what you'd done?"

Hermione laughed. "I'd laugh in their faces. If they didn't want to see me happy, then I wouldn't be interested in them and I'd ignore them. They clearly don't matter if they don't see who you truly are," She said wisely.

Draco breathed in through his nose. "What if you were too afraid of that though, being judged by everyone?"

Hermione shrugged one shoulder almost helplessly, grimacing at him. "I guess you just need to teach yourself not to care what others think of you,"

He looked down, slightly disappointed with her answer. He'd wanted her to take control, but she'd given him all of it, like she didn't want to take control of his life and pull his strings. He was on his own.

"Can I give you some advice?" She asked suddenly, staring at him as if she meant it. He nodded silently, his grey eyes piercing hers.

She opened her mouth slowly, stuttering a few times before she ordered her words properly. "I know it's none of my business, and I know we don't know each other, and are far from friends, but… nothing bad will happen to you, if you don't do what others want. People might judge you for a while, but they forget about things soon enough, and then you'd grow up to be someone… who… was strong enough to make his own decisions. Someone to admire. Someone who, when told to do precise things, done the exact opposite, but made it work for himself because he was smart… and clever… and wasn't afraid of people. He knew who he was and stayed true to himself because he didn't let people brainwash him… just, something to think about," She said, a blush spreading across her cheeks when he arched a brow at her sensible and admiring speech.

He was so close to telling her everything, in that moment. She didn't even know him and she still had hope in him, how could he possibly argue with that? She hated him, but believed he could do better. She just… understood. How was it that this bloody woman happened to understand everything?! She was infuriatingly necessary.

But he stopped himself. She may have… understood, but she still wasn't trustworthy. He _couldn't_ trust her. He never could. There was a very large possibility that she was just an incredibly good actress, sent here by Potter to wriggle secrets out of him.

He didn't like being so mysterious, but it was for the best. She had her own problems anyways, why would she want to listen to his?

But she was the most level-headed person he'd ever met in his life. Most people acted on emotions, some people acted on instinct, but she acted on logic. Logic and… and… what was best for everyone. She was probably the best, and only willing, person to go to for advice, because she put herself, temporarily, in other peoples situations and weighed all of the decisions. How couldn't he do that for himself? Why did he have to go to her for it?

"I'll remember that," He replied honestly, avoiding her gaze. She nodded with a small smile on her face. He wouldn't act on things straight away, and maybe wouldn't take her advice for several years, but she believed that he would remember it. There was an aura around Malfoy that told her he kept whatever promises he made, and she liked that trait in people.

"But you care about what people think," He blurted out suddenly, frowning in realisation. "You wouldn't do anything that made your friends unhappy,"

Hermione looked away. "That's because their happiness is important to me,"

"But don't you care about your own happiness?" He asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Of course I do, I just… care about theirs more,"

"Can I give you some advice?" He echoed her, reciting his next words in his head.

She nodded at him, afraid of what he might tell her, but welcomed his honest opinion. It was probably the first time he'd even paid enough attention to her to judge her, but she was interested to know.

"Sometimes, you should think of yourself first. It's not selfish, it's… necessary, sometimes." He swallowed when he finished and was glad to see that she nodded intently and didn't cause any rumpus.

"Thanks," She said, and then looked down at the grass. "I think I needed someone to tell me that,"

He bit his lower lip and was about to speak when… the sky suddenly spoke to them.

"Contestants," It greeted in Dumbledore's voice. Hermione and Draco both stood up as the sky turned stormy and grey. "Your next task approaches, and is probably the hardest one of all. Good luck."

Both of them quietly expected the sky to return to normal, but it didn't. It looked like a mixture between day time transferring into night time and a dark, thundering storm. The sky was still grey and cloudy, but it was the rest of the area that surprised them most.

A large shadow was cast over the grass. The water, that was once pleasant to look at and calming, now thrashed against the rocks and looked almost lethal. It darkened in colour and left you wondering what kind of malicious beasts were lurking beneath it. The trees swayed and swished with the wind and Hermione immediately grabbed the bobble from her wrist, tying her hair back tightly. Draco had to settle for pushing his fringe back, away from his face.

They stood closer than intended, as if the darkness somehow brought them closer together. They both waited as she ground shook and grabbed their wands, bringing them out immediately. Dumbledore had said this would be the hardest task yet, and they didn't doubt him.

A loud and deep screeching sound caused them to cover their ears and they squinted up at the sky, sensing that it came from there. The trees seemed to struggle to stay in the ground as they threatened to be torn from their roots and some of the branches actually snapped, whipping around other trees until they were thrown deep into the forest.

Draco tried to talk to her, to ask her what was happening, but the wind swallowed up his breath and he had to turn to face his back to the wind. He couldn't breathe as the wind entered his lungs and slapped him in the face multiple times. It was freezing.

And then it began to rain.

The rain was slightly helpful- it stuck his fringe to his face so that it no longer flapped around wildly, but it also got inside his eyes and ears- which he really didn't like. Hermione was strong, though, much stronger than him. She squinted up at the sky, waiting to see what was threatening them with her wand held high.

The screeching sound returned again, louder this time, and they both winced, groaning and even crouching down slightly to try and get away from it. It was an animalistic roar, like someone had angered eight hundred lions at the same time, only with a shrieking bird-like noise. It definitely wasn't human.

The area grew darker, if it could, but they could still see. The sky turned a deathly dark grey and Hermione related the image to look something like a horror movie. It was obvious that if any magic was being used, it was bordering on dark.

Their attention was torn from the sky as the water splashed around, heavier and more wild than usual. Some drops of it fell onto the grass, soaking the sickeningly green plant with moisture.

Their clothes were already drenched. His grey shirt was completely black with rain and his jeans clung to him annoyingly. His boots squished and his socks seemed to be the only thing that was dry. Hermione was equally wet- her dark purple shirt turning black as well. He suspected she was in the same position as him. Her hair was darker, as if she'd just stepped out of a shower, and he didn't have to look at his own hair to know it had turned a slightly darker shade of white-blonde.

The water crashed in waves against the rocks and grew even wilder, if possible, before completely raising over their heads, as if commanded by some sort of outsider magic. A wave grew until it was metres above them, and then, as if with a click of someone's finger, was dropped completely onto them, soaking them through and making them stagger. They were a _mess. _

With the large wave, came a large, amphibian-like face. The creature smiled evilly, with large pointy teeth that were larger than _them_, and then rose. It had a large, long, rubbery-looking neck, and for a moment, Hermione compared it to a dinosaur, before she saw what it really was.

_A dragon. _

"RUN!" She screamed immediately, turning around. She didn't bother waiting on Draco to keep up and grabbed his arm painfully, making him run backwards until they were concealed by the trees. He couldn't take his eyes off of the thing as its eyes glowed red and promised pain with a smile.

She continued running, branches slapping her in the face and tripping over unseen things. The fear pierced her lungs and stomach like nothing else in her life, and all she could think of was running. Running until she found a safe place, away from that monster.

She knew though, somewhere in the back of her mind, that it wasn't going away and it wasn't going to give them a break. It wouldn't wait them out; it would strike relentlessly, and would have no mercy on them.

Draco seemed too shell-shocked to even run and clumsily staggered backwards at Hermione's command, his eyes plastered to the trees as if he was still staring that… thing in the face.

Hermione ran until her legs could no longer carry her, but when she looked back, she had only run a few metres. Not nearly as much as she thought she'd ran.

She swallowed in as much air as she could get, her lungs demanding oxygen that the wind stole away from her, swirling it up into the sky. She looked at Draco, whose bottom lip shook with fear. He was completely out of it- so far away from the Draco she was used to. He was paralysed with terror and she would never be able to battle a dragon without him or with him in that state.

She slapped his face roughly, borderline punching it, and didn't even wince as she heard his jaw crack. He snapped out of his reverie quickly and stared at her in shock.

"You just punched me," He said breathlessly, over the noise of the wind and crackling thunder.

Hermione stared at him incredulously. "THERE IS A DRAGON COMING AFTER US, AND YOU'RE BOTHERED ABOUT HOW I PUNCHED YOU?!" She slapped him again to let him know how ridiculous he was and he flinched, but didn't feel any pain. The coldness had completely numbed his face- that and his own fear.

But her screaming alerted the dragon of where they were and the ground shook as it drew an ugly, long claw from the water to push it into the ground, stepping out of the once beautiful lake that was now dark and evil. Through the trees, they could see as it rose up until miles above their heads. At its full height, it was larger than an average-sized house.

They would _never_ get away from it just by running; they would have to fight it.

Its body was shiny and black, rippling with muscles that pulsed as if each and everyone one of them owned their own heart. It was jaggy and pointed, with wings that were torn and bloody with ripped holes in them. The tail, attached to its rear end, was bigger than the basilisk Harry had defeated in their second year.

It stood still as it investigated them and then with a disgusting smile, opened its mouth and roared.

* * *

"She'll never survive this, professor! You've got to stop it!" Harry yelled, running to the front of the hall. Everyone thought similarly- they were worried over both Hermione and Draco's wellbeing. At the same time, Blaise Zabini rushed from the Slytherin table.

"Draco gets paralysed when he's in shock, you can't do this!" He called. Both boys stared confusedly at each other, but seemed to quickly accept that they both wanted the same thing and continued yelling at Dumbledore. He merely smiled wispily and conjured to spare seats, directing the boys to sit and watch. After a few moments, Theodore joined Blaise at the front, and Ron and Ginny joined Harry. They sat on the floor, too hypnotised by what Hermione and Draco were going through to conjure chairs.

Harry gripped the bottom of his seat until his blood seeped from the space between his fingernail and finger. His body shook with anger and worry- his best friend was battling a dragon twice the size he had- she would never ever survive this!

At the same time, Blaise's eyes were as wide as saucers. He knew Draco, even though the prat thought otherwise, and he knew he would never be able to battle a_ dragon. _It was bigger than Malfoy Manor and wanted to eat them! It was impossible.

But Dumbledore had no intention of stopping this. He had faith in both contestants and believed that if in the right state of mind, they could easily beat a dragon. They were, hands down, his best students and he knew that they'd combine their intelligence and would be able to stop it. He was aware that Draco was highly knowledgeable in the subject of dragons and with Hermione's intelligence on spells and charms; they could match its strength.

He also thought, quite personally, that if you combined both Draco and Hermione's mind, they could probably take over the world. Their cleverness was astounding and quite frankly, the dragon stood no chance against them. On their own, it might've been a hard battle to face, yes, but together… no.

"IT'S GONNA KILL HER!" Harry roared, bearing his teeth as he watched Hermione run through a forest with no idea what she was going to do. He heard her panting breaths as if she was right beside him and it echoed in his mind. All he could remember was the incident with Bellatrix, and it haunted him that he'd been helpless in that situation. He was the same now. He couldn't help her, he could only think rationally about what _he_ would do.

"You underestimate her," Dumbledore smiled lightly.

The crowd winced and gasped as they watched Hermione and Draco's terror. They had unintentionally split up, so the screen had split into two. Draco seemed to be the safe one, hiding behind a tree whilst Hermione was still running away from something.

"Come on, Draco," Blaise chanted quietly, his hand curled tightly into a fist.

A large squeal made everyone tense and everyone seemed to share Hermione's pain as she tripped and fell flat on her face. There was a large, dark shadow behind her, moving quickly, and people bit their lip as they willed her to get up- to do anything!

But she was up before they'd even registered that thought. She continued running, shouting out Draco's name to see if he'd call back at her.

Ron ran his hands through his hair and gathered his palms to the back of his neck, turning away. "I can't watch this," He said painfully, having enough of Hermione's terror-filled gasps and pants. He closed his eyes, facing the rest of the audience and winced as he heard cracking branches and howling wind.

"FUCKING HELP HER!" Harry cried, most likely to Draco, who still hovered, shaking, behind a tree. As if Draco had heard his words, he ran towards Hermione's voice, holding his wand as tightly as he could.

The screen turned, to an overhead view, and the spectators saw that Draco had ran behind Hermione, between her and the dragon. He curved, running up behind her, until it switched back down in front of Hermione and you saw Draco run up behind her.

"Stop, it's only me!" They heard him shout, watching as he grabbed her shoulder and slowed her down. She breathed erratically, her eyes snapping everywhere that she saw a black shadow, and then she licked her dry lips.

"Wh… wher… whereisit?" She panted, looking around them. He swallowed, about to reply that he didn't know, when a loud grumble sent the running to their left, away from the wretched beast.

Hermione threatened to trip every three seconds, making everyone in the rooms' heart stop beating. They held their hands in front of their mouths as they gasped over and over again in amazement and anxiety.

None of the other schools were present. This was a task that you had to watch until it was completed, or failed, and the others watched their own contestants in different rooms. There was no arguing, everyone was rooting for Draco and Hermione.

"We can't just keep running!" Draco shouted, keeping her steady by holding her elbow as they chaotically hopped over sticks, fallen trees, branches and logs. Her rough panting was his only answer and you could tell by his eyes that he was trying to think of something, anything. His eyes seemed to lighten with an idea and he flicked his wand at every tree they passed, sending it toppling to the ground. If he could pile the trees on top of each other, they might have a chance at running away.

But after four trees, a large claw-like foot snapped them all easily, as if they were simply toothpicks. It was getting closer, and both of them were too terrified to think rationally. They needed a minute to think… a distraction.

"I'll distract it," Hermione shouted, a plan forming in her mind. Draco looked at her as if she was insane and told her no, but she continued to speak over him as the dragon closed in on them.

"I'll distract it, _you_ think of something! Anything!" She said, pushing him away and running to her right. As she'd predicted, the dragon completely ignored Draco and continued to stumble after her, roaring all the way.

"NO!" Harry shouted at the screen, jumping up so that Ginny had to place a hand on his shoulder to remind him that he had to remain calm. "She won't be able to do this," He almost whimpered to Ginny, breathing heavily. Unlike Harry, Ginny had complete faith in Dumbledore and her friend. She trusted Dumbledore, and knew that Hermione was already on her way to sanity. She'd already formed a plan- she just needed to act upon it now.

* * *

Draco cast as many spells as he could at the dragon, but they simply bounced off of it or completely unaffected it. In his mental state, he even cast the killing curse without a second's hesitation, but it didn't work at all.

He thought back to what he knew about dragons, but every time he tried to grab onto a single fact about them, it slipped out of his grasp. Random numbers and colours and names all flew by him, but he couldn't concentrate enough to _actually _think.

He _had _to gain the upper hand. He had to become as big as it, make it see him, challenge it and hurt it in any way that he could. If he didn't, it might hurt her, and he knew that black dragons especially, were extremely vicious. If he was correct, it liked to play with its prey before actually killing it. When it eventually did decide to kill, it either used fire-from its mouth, or a black smoke to choke its victim from its nose.

He only had a few minutes to think of something to do.

He considered flying up to it on a broom, like Potter had done, but that simply wouldn't work- it would sense him, being so high up. Instead, he took a look at the large, slimy tail slithering past him and quickly threw his leg over it, using the dragon's spikes to pull himself up. This way, it wouldn't notice him, and because of its thick and numb reptile skin, it wouldn't feel him either. But he had to be fast.

He felt like he had been climbing for hours, but it hadn't even been minutes. He was relatively high up- near the dragons back legs, but it still wasn't enough. Any minute now, it could decide to hurt her.

"Where are we going?" A voice said behind him. He turned around to see Hermione there, squinting up at him as the rain got in her eyes.

"How the hell did you get here?!" He asked her, a crazed and disbelieving look in his eye. She smiled slightly, despite their predicament.

"Doppelganger charm, he's chasing after a copy of me,"

Draco frowned and grinned at her at the same time. "You're brilliant," He confessed in amazement, making her smile wider. She climbed up a few more of its scales before they were nearer each other.

"I don't know much about dragons," She admitted into his ear. He nodded.

"I tried to Avada it, it didn't even work," He shouted back. Hermione looked at him critically, but then winced as she realised the severity of it. If not even the killing curse could kill this brute, then what could?

They both climbed further up until they sat comfortably –well, as comfortable as you can get whilst sitting on a _dragon- _and listened to it, holding on for dear life as it ran faster after what it thought was Hermione.

"Maybe if you conjured a sword- do you know where its heart is?!" Hermione asked Draco, knowing for a fact that he held a lot more knowledge about dragons than her. He nodded, blinking.

"But a sword won't do anything to it- it'll be like a paper cut!" shouted Draco. Hermione looked at him worriedly and fear coiled inside her again, replacing the adrenaline that had possessed her earlier.

* * *

"She's actually doin' it," Ron whispered in incredulity. Harry nodded beside him, gulping. Yes, Hermione was in control, but for how long?

"_They're _doing it," Blaise corrected him with a stern face. He admired Hermione greatly and thought she was doing fantastic- but so was Draco, and just because their friend happened to be in the competition didn't mean that his should just be totally disregarded.

Ron nodded to him a little, but grumbled as he agreed. He was too proud of Hermione to be interested in what Draco was doing, even though he had felt that slight pang of jealousy as Hermione had smiled at Draco like that- right after he'd openly admitted that he thought she was a brilliant witch.

"She's going to be okay," Ginny soothed Harry, rubbing his shoulder. He looked doubtful, but nodded anyways, never taking his eyes off of the screen.

"He's gonna be fine," Theodore reassured Blaise at the same time, his own body shaking. Blaise breathed angrily and was on the verge of breaking down- Draco was so bloody brave, and he had no idea. Nobody else was even affected by what Draco had done- they were all too interested in Hermione. Even some of the Slytherin's looked more concerned for Hermione. He felt like screaming at them. Draco was constantly modest, acting as if nothing mattered to him, but Blaise knew that some things did. It was so hard being someone who hated themselves best friend. They took zero credit for anything.

"He's fine, look at him!" Theodore stressed, throwing his hand up in a wild gesture towards the screen. Blaise sighed and nodded. He would be fine. Draco would be fine.

* * *

"I can't reach it, its miles down," Hermione said, looking over the edge of where she was sitting to look at the dragons claws. Draco nodded- a simple Levicorpus would never work on a dragon. There had to be something they could do to at least stop it from running.

"We could cast Fiendfyre," Draco suggested, but it was the last thing he wanted to do, especially since it had killed one of his best friends.

"NO!" Hermione shouted instantly. "There's no way we could control it!"

"Could we make it smaller if we cast Reducio, though?" Draco asked. Hermione shook her head.

"No, Draco! I'm _not_ casting that horrible spell and there's no guarantee it would even _get_ smaller!"

"What about Incendio then?" He asked her. "We could make it bigger by using Engorgio, but we can still control it," Draco asked.

She looked like she wanted to disagree, but eventually nodded. "We'll jump and then do it," She shouted at him, moving herself closer to the curvature of the dragons back so that she could jump off at any moment. Draco nodded and moved beside her. He had no idea what spell she'd cast yesterday, so he couldn't jump on his own. God knows what Weasley and Potter would think if they saw him touch her.

They jumped off at the same time, rolling over to get out of the way as the dragon continued forward and almost hit them with its tail. Due to being behind it, the dragon didn't notice them, and Hermione wondered if her doppelganger charm was still up,"

He cast Incendio immediately, pointing his wand at high trees and the dragon itself. It took a while for the dragon to even notice that it was on fire, but it eventually did and howled, turning and twisting in a way that looked grotesque. The forest around them went up in flames, curls of black smoke rushing towards them. They couldn't stay any longer due to the burning smell and fumes, so they both ran back in the direction of the river.

* * *

"Have they done it?" Blaise asked, standing up from his chair. He ignored the person behind him that whined that they couldn't see.

"I think they have," Theodore whispered in amazement.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry chanted, biting his lips until they were bruised. Blaise glared at him, but said nothing.

* * *

"It's still alive," Draco said, looking over the trees as they reached the river. Everywhere around them was smoky, and they could barely see anything at all, but what they could see was that the dragon was _very _angry.

"It's not working," Hermione whimpered after a moment of watching it.

Spontaneously and before Hermione could persuade herself different, she pushed Draco into the small pond beneath the waterfall, behind some rocks so that he wouldn't get lost, and cast Fiendfyre, jumping in after him. Before she was submerged in icy blue water, she heard the frenzied roar of a dying dragon.

She held him, by the shoulders, under the water for as long as she could, even when he pushed at her hands and tried to communicate that he couldn't breathe. She couldn't let him resurface- he could be burned, or worse.

Only when the orange colour disappeared from above them did she let them both rise, looking around herself as she did so. The place was… ruined. Everything was black and burnt, and the taste of ash was prominent on her tongue. They both breathed deeply, bobbing in the water until a blue glow surrounded the area and as if they'd just woke up from a bad dream, everything returned to normal.

There was no dragon corpse, no fire, no black, burnt trees, no crashing water, no mist, no grey sky, no black smoke, and no rain. It was as if nothing had even happened.

"Was that some kind of fucking joke?!" Draco asked, immediately angry. Hermione was equally angry- they had been put in so much danger. Just to take everything that they'd done away felt extremely… annoying.

A scroll was dropped onto her head, startling her for a moment. She picked it up and unrolled it, staying in the water as Draco got out.

_Now, I'm extremely impressed. Not only did you finish the fourth task, but your quick-thinking and ability to control the little Fiendfyre that you produced is marvellous. Since everything in this world is merely an illusion, I must warn you that you cannot cast this spell again. You were most likely only able to control it because you're in a different dimension. The results may not be the same in the actual Wizarding World. Stay safe, and we'll keep in touch. _

_I am also rather proud, but humbled to announce that there are only six teams left, excluding you. In total, there are seven. One couple could not tame the dragon._

_Oh, and you mustn't worry about conjuring food. It is perfectly permitted._

_-Albus Dumbledore. _

"Here," Hermione said, throwing the scroll at Draco's feet as she pushed herself out of the water. She moved over to the new bag that had appeared when they'd arrived back and zipped it open, looking inside as Draco read the scroll. There was a few feet of parchment, quills with some ink, a few books, a clock, and some other necessities that she blushed at before pulling the bag shut again. Draco walked up to her and collapsed against the tree after he'd read the scroll.

"That was bloody petrifying," He owned up. Hermione nodded. She was still scared- but the feeling of relief that had washed over her had smothered away everything else that she'd felt. She just felt lucky to be alive right now and wondered how any of the other couples had defeated it- had they done the same thing as them, or had they used a different tactic?

"If I see another dragon again, it'll be too soon," He continued, still shaking slightly.

"I know," replied Hermione quietly, and then frowned at something. "Wait, how did Dumbledore know I was worried about conjuring food?"

Draco looked at her and shrugged. "He's probably watching us, or listening to us… or both," He answered, not really caring if Dumbledore could hear them or not. After a moment, Hermione nodded again.

"Yeah, that's probably it," She said, a little unconvinced. "There's some stuff in here for you," She added, patting the bag beside her.

Draco arched an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Hermione shrugged. "I think I saw aftershave, and it's definitely not mine,"

Draco frowned. "That old fool went into my room?"

Yawning and stretching her arms high above her head, Hermione responded. "He went into mine as well, gave me some books,"

"How the fuck do you get books and all I get is something that makes me smell nice?" He asked in outrage. Hermione chuckled.

"I don't know, you can read some if you like, but I don't think you'll enjoy them," She scrunched her nose up at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I enjoy them?"

"…Because they're by muggle authors,"

"Oh," Draco accidentally pulled a disgusted face. "Yeah, keep them then,"

A little insulted, but still understanding that Draco had to keep up his balance of insulting her and being nice to her, she left it at that and pulled out one of the books, starting to read from the beginning. Draco grabbed the bag and looked through the small pockets of the front, thinking that they looked a little puffy and they might hold something. After a few minutes, he pulled out a deck of cards.

"Let's play exploding snap," He said with a grin.

"No, I'm reading." She replied, not taking her eyes off of the page. She wanted to relax and possibly fall asleep after what they'd just been through.

Draco frowned immediately. He didn't like being told no, so he grabbed her book and threw it behind him, ignoring her cries of protest. He dealt the cards and looked back up at her, finding her scowl to be the funniest thing ever.

"What's wrong?" He asked, even though he knew fine well what was wrong with her.

"I'm not playing," She refused after what he'd done. He sniggered and laid the first card.

"Come on, Granger," He verged on whining. "I played your stupid game this morning," He grumbled.

Seeing that he was right and that it wasn't fair to play his game back, she sighed and turned to sit cross-legged in front of him, taking her bunch of cards and grabbing her wand.

"Are we playing patience or classical?" Hermione asked.

Draco thought for a moment. "We'll play classical, don't worry Granger, I'll go easy on you," He winked at her and she reddened slightly at the cheeks, looking away from him. She laid a card down on top of his and he copied her, waiting until two cards matched.

They decided to play three games and whoever had the most points at the end of the three games won. Draco won the first round, and Hermione won the second two.

She smirked knowingly as he complained and moaned about it. "I fucking went easy on you. I even warned you that I would," He said, trying to convince both of them that he was better than he let on.

Hermione rolled onto her side, facing away from him as he continued to groan about how unfair the game was and how she had cheated by not telling him how good she was at it.

"Goodnight Malfoy," She smiled knowledgeably.

"I mean, you probably only even agreed to play because you knew that you were going to cheat and win the game! You're a Gryffindor, it's what you do, you're all just a bunch of cheats, can't play a single game without one of you cheating… so not fair… gonna beat you next time… promise… bloody Gryffindor's… bloody Granger…"

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you: **roseberrygirl, TrixieDust, GirForPrez, superstarem, XDramioneLoverx, rae8807, .breathless, Eternally Free, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16 and Draco lover 91 **for reviewing the last chapter!

**TrixieDust: **I'm a book and film fan, but I do enjoy the books more than the movies. It just relates back to what I was saying in an earlier chapter- I need Hermione to rely on Draco sometimes. At the beginning, he was always saving her ass and she was a little... shaken up at being chosen, so she wasn't herself for a few chapters. Now I've made her more independent, but I still want her to be able to rely on Draco sometimes, so that's why I wrote in this that she doesn't know :) Thank you so much for your review!

** .breathless: **Definitely! I've always related to Draco better than any other character, but that also makes me sound like I've related to the spoiled side of him... (and I kind of have... I was an only child! eep.) but I grew up quicker than him and was never bully! But I do think that in the books and the movies, there is a part of Draco that we can all relate to, and that makes him a really good character :) You're totally right! Something will happen soon that'll end up cracking them both -more Draco than Hermione- and he'll end up confiding in her completely, then he'll be confused again, and wonder what the hell he's feeling :P As for your question: You totally predicted it. I am slowly introducing more of the outsiders view into it, and as for what the tournament looks like, I guess you could make that up yourself! The only information I've given out is that they're in a forest right now (but that'll change soon) but I kind of imagine them being in a sort of dome... like a large bubble, if you know what I mean? And I know this is really... quite silly... but you know that big dome in the Simpsons movie? Yeah I kind of imagine it like that :3 Nothing is edited, Dumbledore will show them a few bits and pieces, but he can't control what Hermione and Draco do, so even he doesn't know what's going to happen and it's all kind of "live" so that it's happening as they watch it :) I'm sorry this response was so long! Sometimes I can't stop talking :( haha! Thank you and you're welcome! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so much for your lovely review!

**If anyone is has any other questions or is confused about something, feel free to ask! **

**-FallenForTheDraco. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack: **First half: Diary of Jane (Acoustic) - Breaking Benjamin

Second half: Touchin' on my - 3Oh!3

* * *

_**DAY SIX**_

"I'm so bloody bored, Granger. Amuse me," Draco ordered from beside her. She raised an eyebrow at him and continued reading.

"No," Was the brunette's response.

He huffed dramatically and shifted his feet, crossing one leg over the other. "I'll even play one of your stupid games, come on," He tempted.

She breathed a laugh through her nose quietly, just barely letting a side of her lips tug up. "No," She replied again, turning the page.

He rolled his light grey eyes and huffed again. "What're you even reading?" He asked, eyeing the cover of her worn old book. She didn't answer him, and instead simply turned the cover so that he could read it.

"Beauty and the Beast?" He asked with an arch of his pale eyebrow. She nodded, not answering him again. "What's it about?"

She finally tore her eyes away from the pages. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked, knowing fine well that he was an impatient man and that it was a sometimes confusing and lengthy story. Or, well, it would be for him… He didn't read muggle books.

He nodded, frowning, and she put her book down on her lap, making sure to doggy-ear it so that she wouldn't lose her place. "Okay, well, first of all, there is a very wealthy tradesman who has three beautiful daughters and they all live in a big mansion together. His daughters are beautiful, yes, but the youngest daughter, who is fourteen, is named Belle because she is lovely and has a good heart, whilst her two sisters are rather malicious and… wicked. Are you keeping up?" She asked with a smile.

He nodded quickly, eager to hear the rest of the story. She continued. "Well, I told you that they were very wealthy? Well, one day, their father loses all of his wealth in a storm and therefore he and his daughters have to live in a farmhouse and work for a living. After a few years, the father hears that one of his trade ships has returned and he's so excited that he asks his daughters what they want him to buy them. The two horrible sisters ask for fine jewellery and clothing, but Belle only asks for a rose,"

Draco nodded along with the story, he didn't quite find it interesting, but figured it would get interesting at some point. "The tradesman discovers that his ship was taken to pay off his debts, so he doesn't have any money to buy his daughters anything. When he decides to come home, he gets lost in a forest and ends up feeling cold and ill, so he looks for a place to stay for the night. He comes across this beautiful castle and goes inside to find that everything is laid out for him. Food, clothes, but nobody was there. He stayed the night, figuring that nobody lived there and then on his way out the next morning, sees a garden of roses," Hermione paused.

"He remembers that Belle had wanted a rose, and so he picks the most beautiful one he can find, but then he's stopped by this beast, who tells him that he must die after taking his most prized possession, the rose, you have to remember that part because it comes back up later," She told him as he nodded along.

"Anyway, the man begs to be let free and explains that he only wanted to give the rose to his youngest daughter. The beast agrees and lets him go and give the rose to Belle, but only if he promises to return to the beast. The merchant reluctantly agrees and heads back home with fine jewellery and clothes for his other two daughters that the beast gave to him. When he gets home, he tries to hide the secret from Belle, but she finds out and then goes to the beast's palace. The beast tells her that she is the mistress of his castle and that he'll be her servant, and she's wined and dined every night with luscious clothes. Also every night, the beast proposes to her, but she continuously says no and then dreams about a handsome prince who asks why she always refuses him. She tells the prince that she cannot marry the beast, because she loves him only as a friend. Belle becomes convinced that the prince in her dreams is locked away in the castle somewhere, as a prisoner of the beast, and tries to find him, but never can. All she finds is enchanted rooms."

Hermione smiled, knowing that he was enjoying the story. Perhaps after she'd told him, he'd want to read it. "Well, after a few months of living with the beast, Belle becomes, understandably, homesick and she begs the beast to let her return to her home to see her family. He allows her, but only on the condition that she'll return in a week. Belle agrees and he sends her home with an enchanted mirror, and a ring. The mirror enables her to look in and see the beast at all times, and the ring, when turned thrice around her finger, would take her immediately back to the castle. So, she goes home."

"Is that it?" Draco asked, unimpressed. Hermione smirked.

"Nope, her two wicked sisters beg her to stay home for one more day, convinced that if she breaks the beast's promise, then he'll eat her alive and kill her. They even rub onions on their eyes to make it look as though they'd been crying and Belle falls for it, agreeing to stay for one more night."

"But eventually, she grows guilty at breaking the beast's promise and even misses him, so she looks in the mirror and is horrified to see that he's lying in his rose garden, dying because of his heartbreak. She turns the ring around her finger three times and returns to him instantly. When she arrives, he's almost dead and she cries over his almost lifeless body, finally revealing that she loves him and doesn't want him to die. When her tears fall on him, he's transformed into the prince she saw in her dreams. She's confused, so the prince tells her that long ago, when he was a selfish and arrogant man, a woman stopped by his house and asked for shelter from the rain. He saw her as a peasant and didn't let her in his house, but she was in fact a witch, and cursed him to look, on the outside, as bad as he truly was on the inside. Only when someone was able to love the beast would the curse be broken, and it had to be before the last petal of the rose fell, the one that the merchant brought back for his daughter. Belle understands and accepts the beast's final proposal, and then they live happily ever after together."

"So she fell in love with him, even though he was horrible?" Draco asked.

Hermione began to nod, but then shook her head. "He was lovely to her. He sometimes had a temper problem, but other than that he gave her everything, because he was lonely. He'd been alone for years until she came along,"

"But he _looked_ horrible,"

"Well… yes. He was made to look as he did on the inside, and on the inside, he was horrible. Arrogant, deliriously wealthy, had anger problems, looked at everyone as if they were beneath him… so he was made to look like a beast, but she still loved him. She fell in love with him because of his personality and because she wasn't a judgmental person,"

"But how could you fall in love with someone who looked horrible?" He asked, and he sounded genuinely curious, making Hermione both shocked, sympathetic and angry.

She frowned at him. "You could because looks don't matter, when you're with the right person. What matters most is what is on the inside. How could you fall in love with a beautiful person who had a shit personality?" She asked him bluntly, and he struggled to find her sense.

"But if you're with someone ugly, then how could you possibly be attracted to them?" He asked, frowning back at her.

She blinked. "I just told you how! Because they're nice on the inside- would you rather date the most beautiful person in the world, who had a really awful personality, or would you rather date a not bad looking person who had the most wonderful personality in the world?"

"Obviously the not bad looking person, but I still think looks matter in a relationship," He replied honestly.

"Well, they don't." responded Hermione firmly, almost as if it was a fact.

"But they do kind of. Be honest, would you go out with someone who looked horrible?" He asked her carefully.

She sighed. "If their personality won my heart then yes,"

He raised his eyebrows at her answer. "Do you think Belle was right to fall in love with the beast?"

She nodded. "Of course, he was nice to her and she wasn't a judgmental person!"

"Then we disagree." He commented.

Her head snapped to look at him. "What? How could you possibly think that she shouldn't fall in love with him?"

"Well, first of all, you said she was only fourteen, meaning that when she went to the beast she would only be around… sixteen or seventeen, correct?" He arched an eyebrow. "And also, he was a _beast. _Bestiality is illegal in the UK. It's most likely an abusive relationship too. You said he had anger issues and bought her over by wining and dining her every single night. When he let her go, she went straight back to him, because he has control over her-

"How would you know?! It's just a fairy-tale!" She suddenly exploded, interrupting him. "How can you look into it that much? It isn't an abusive relationship; it's a lovely story about how a woman fell in love with a horrible looking man because she doesn't judge people based on looks!"

"And by not judging people on looks, she was clearly fooled by this guy. She's much too soft and by the sound of it, naïve and innocent too," Draco was absolutely convinced that he was correct.

"She wasn't fooled by him! He gave her nice things because he loved her, not because he was luring her into anything! That's a horrible thing to say! The beast was… lonely… and he had learned his lesson after being so alone for all those years-

"He was alone because people knew how horrible he was-

"Just because people are horrible on the outside, doesn't mean that they are horrible on the inside!" She said, throwing the book down by her side. She twisted and got up, walking away from him.

"How the fuck did you come to that conclu-

"Because you prove the point that I'm trying to make!" She spun around to face him. "You _are_ the beast! You're horrible on the inside, yet you're beautiful on the outside! But there is no witch who will curse you to make you realise that, you'll always be horrible-

"You don't even _know_ me!" Draco shouted back, his anger boiling.

"And I don't want to! Just because someone is horrible on the outside doesn't mean that they are ugly on the inside too. Just like you prove that although someone is beautiful on the outside, doesn't mean that their heart is beautiful too," She hiccupped, beginning to get very upset.

"You know what?" Draco shouted, standing up as well. "You're just like Belle! You're Naïve, and you don't want to face reality-

"At least Belle is smart, and reads books, and has a good heart! The beast, before he became a beast, was arrogant and selfish and that's exactly what you are! You only care about yourself and-

"I don't only care about myself! I don't _even_ care about-

"Yes you do! You've always only cared about yourself because your heart is frozen! It's like ice- it's cold and alone, and that's how you'll-

"How the fuck would you know anything about me? All you care about is your stupid friends-

"They are _not_ stupid! And they are not the _only _thing that I care about!" She hiccupped again.

"What the fuck else do you care about? Oh, school, big fucking wow." He threw his hands in the air.

"No," She said, suddenly quiet, and her small voice stopped whatever words were about to come out of his mouth. A tear ran down her face. "I started to care about you," She spat, before turning and walking away. She didn't wait to see if he'd answer and grabbed her bag before she left.

He stood there with his heart racing, his body solid. He couldn't move. His jaw hung open and his eyes were hazy. She cared about him? No- she's only said that she'd _started_ to care about him. And she probably didn't anymore.

He was correct though, he thought, his anger rising again. She _was_ naïve and although prepared for the big bad world with books and intelligence, she wasn't experienced with people because of said dusty books. She went to books for comfort and ignored people (except those two bloody idiots) and therefore she didn't know the bad people from the good people.

What she'd just said to him proved that greatly- he was a bad person and although he'd been nice to her a few times, that didn't change that his heart was indeed cold and icy. She was so innocent that she thought he'd change, but he never would.

But she admitted that she _cared_… she cared about _him_. Nobody had ever really, truly cared. Blaise was probably the only exception to that.

But then at the same time… she was such an idiot. Caring about him was wrong, and just… something she most definitely shouldn't do. He would just hurt her. And what if she started to feel more for him? It wasn't something new to him that once a girl was friends with him, they developed feelings for him. It had happened with Pansy, Astoria, Daphne, Millicent and pretty much every other girl he'd become friends with.

Hermione was different… he didn't want to hurt her.

But she was also smart- hopefully she'd get out before she felt anything for him. He did know, however, that caring for someone was the first step towards any kind of relationship, and she was too good for him.

He played games and used women- he only really wanted pleasing and then they were kicked out of his room. Never had a woman earned a place in his heart, and he'd like to keep it that way.

And when the girls admitted their feelings, he told them straight out: no, he wasn't looking for a relationship. Then they became aggressive, and he ended up insulting them so that they'd get the message sooner. He didn't want to insult Hermione.

But there was a little niggling part of him that was… almost flattered that _she_ cared about him, and _wanted_ her to care even more than she already did. She was Hermione Granger, and if she fancied him, he was _extremely _complimented. She wouldn't just go for anyone- she would choose the best.

But then again with the naivety- If she thought _he_ was good enough to fancy, then she was wrong and blinded by hope.

Wait, what the hell was he thinking?

Hermione Granger would not _fancy_ him. All she'd even said was that she'd _begun _to care about him. Nothing… even close to 'liking' in that manner… God he was going crazy in this place. It was starting to sour his brain. He was becoming one of the bimbo's that he'd slept with before.

She would never fancy him in a million years; it was more like… like she pitied him!

He was the beast. She was right. But he was better than the beast, and he would tell Belle to stay away before he hurt her.

* * *

That absolute prat.

She was finished with him- she wasn't trying _any_ longer. He was a complete and utter _arse_ and she was _not _caring for him anymore. She thought that he'd enjoyed the story and would perhaps read it, and then maybe it would make him change, but it wouldn't. He had read far too into the story and that was his problem: he had _over_ analysed it. There can come a point where you analyse something so much that you miss the point.

She was actually starting to like him as well. Yesterday, he had told her that she was brilliant and it was in a time of desperation and need, so she knew he wasn't joking, or kidding, or even lying. He _meant_ it. He truly thought she was brilliant, but he would never admit that. He was too bloody proud and he saw it as a weakness to reveal his emotions, and _especially _to a… Muggleborn.

His pride was the worst thing about him. She wanted to see _Draco; _she knew Malfoy perfectly well and was sick of him. She was ready for a change- but he wasn't.

And only when _he_ was ready for a change, would he change at all.

But how could she convince him to change? She meant nothing to him. He didn't value her opinion and she was lucky he was even going to 'remember' her advice. She thought she would've made more progress by now, but she and Draco weren't even close to becoming friends. She feared they never would be, which is a shame, because they were a rather good pair.

They had good conversations, and were in sync with each other. They worked well when in a team and took care of each other. They both had the brains- but different brains. He was good in action, he was good with instinct and he was intelligent, but she had the _logic_ and she was cautious. They were so good together they probably could've taken Voldemort out singlehandedly- well, with Harry, of course.

But nothing in this world would make him even _see_ that, never mind admit it. He was set in his ways and if she'd acted sooner, maybe when he was fourteen or fifteen, then perhaps he'd have had the potential to change, but he was at the end of his teenage years now, and this was his course. There was no _time_ left to change. This was it. This was Malfoy.

She was silly for trying to change him. Unless she transfigured him into something, then that was the closest he'd ever come to changing.

She couldn't quite understand why she _wanted_ him to change- she enjoyed him when he had a laugh and most of his traits were relatively nice- he was charming, polite, (despite his swearing) intelligent and funny. He was… pretty much a good guy, if only he wasn't so prejudiced.

And even if, one day, he did change- what would happen? Would they become friends? She doubted it. He basically promised that they'd never be friends. They were in the same world, yet worlds apart. Did that make sense? They were too… different. There was a barrier between them, keeping them constantly separated, even though they were the same. It was kind of sad that one of them wouldn't cross the line.

But she couldn't cross the line- it had to be him. She was a Muggleborn and she _couldn't_ be pureblood, but he was a pureblood and just by being her friend or admitting that Muggleborns weren't, he could cross the line. But only if he wanted to, and she didn't think he did.

She hated that he gave her something and then took it away from her. He gave her laughter, and then removed it by screaming at her. He gave her a secret, and then took that away from her, replacing it with anger instead. He was pulling the rug out from under her, always giving her hope, and then taking it away.

And it was that hope that she needed- she needed it to have faith in him. She wanted to believe, but he was making it extremely hard.

But it wasn't his fault, and a change, if he made one, wouldn't be quick. It would be gradual… slow… steady.

And she had to wait for him to make it. They couldn't go on like this- especially in this sort of competition, when they needed each other. She couldn't bite his head off when he had an opinion- they were both opinionated people, and perhaps part of his opinion had been correct. Maybe the relationship had been slightly, bordering on, abusive, but she didn't want to believe that. She'd read this story since she was a little girl and it was one of her favourites- having that sort of connotation around it… made it sound horrible, and un-innocent, like she'd believed it to be.

After another ten minutes, and when her anger had subsided, she pushed herself up from the tree she was sitting against and walked back the way she'd come. She made a silent vow to herself that every time they argued, they would give each other time, and then return to talking. It was probably best that they have time away from each other- I mean, going from barely seeing each other, to constantly being around each other had to be hard for both of them, right?

He was laying on his stomach when she arrived back, his head lying on an open book. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping, but she didn't believe he was. After another few loud and clumsy steps, she realised he probably was sleeping. He didn't open his eyes, and his body looked completely relaxed.

She crouched down beside him and pulled the book out from underneath him slowly, trying her hardest not to wake him. She hadn't been gone very long, so he must've been tired, or he got bored reading the book.

Turning it over, she read the title and her hand skipped a beat.

_Beauty and the Beast_

He'd started reading it- she'd made him feel guilty again. And she'd revealed that she cared about him, how had he taken that? She hadn't even stayed to see his reaction. Was he guilty? Did he hate her? Did he… care about her as well?

He shifted in his sleep, moaning, and she stilled, hovering beside him. Once he had settled down again, she moved away and leaned against what had become her tree- the tree on the right. His was the left. She compared it to a bed for a second- if they shared one, would he still be on the left hand side?

Wait, what?

They would never share a bed! Why on earth had she thought about that? But once she'd thought about that, the images didn't stop.

Would he cuddle her? Wrap an arm around her protectively, or would he have his back to her? Would they sleep with a distance between them, or would she be able to feel his warmth? When they woke up, who would wake up first? If he did, would he watch her as she slept? Would he wake her up, or get on with his daily duties? And if she woke up first, would she be able to resist looking at his sleeping form? If they woke up in a bed together, what had they done beforehand? Would things be innocent?

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block everything from her mind. After a minute, it worked, and she no longer thought about… well… she gulped… sleeping with Malfoy. But not like _sleeping_-sleeping with him… just sleeping. Innocently, yes.

Her cheeks burned and for a moment she hoped, although doubtful, that he couldn't naturally read minds. What conclusion would he come to if he'd seen her thoughts a moment ago? Would he think she wanted to sleep with him, just because all of the other girls did? She snorted. She was probably the one person in their whole year that definitely _didn't_ want to sleep with him. He was probably a selfish lover- although he had said the other day that he 'pleased women'

…Would he be able to please her?

What the _hell?!_ No! No, she had to stop thinking like that_. God, Hermione Granger, pull yourself together. _

"You came back," Someone groaned sleepily from beside her. She jumped a little, disturbed from her thoughts (that she definitely did not want to be caught thinking) and turned to face him.

"Ye-" She cleared her throat. "Uh… yes,"

Draco rubbed at his eyes and then pushed himself up to lean on his forearms. "…I didn't think you would," He admitted.

She raised an eyebrow and blinked. "Couldn't just leave you, could I?" She smirked suddenly. "Besides, you'd never survive without me,"

He smirked back, and it was lazy because he had just woken up. "Never," He agreed, and she was probably right. He wouldn't have gotten this far without her.

"…I'm sorry I shouted at you," She apologised, playing with her hands as she looked away from him. She could still feel his eyes on her. "I… shouldn't have," She grimaced. "I suppose people are allowed to have opinions,"

Draco shrugged a shoulder and nodded slowly. "They are, but I never should have tried to force my own on you. It probably wasn't even correct,"

Hermione shook her head rapidly. "No, no, your opinion was… respectable. I can see why you'd think that about the story but-

"It wasn't respectable," He interrupted. "I'm a bit of a pessimist… I look at the negatives. I didn't realise that there was a positive moral to the story," He blushed a little and looked away. "So I started reading the beginning and it isn't what I assumed,"

She bit her cheek to stop from smiling. "What are your thoughts on it now?" She asked.

He played with his tongue inside his mouth for a second. "It's… alright. Belle is nice. It's nice that she isn't judgmental," He murmured quietly.

Hermione swallowed and nodded. "You don't have to read it. We have different opinions on things, its fine. It happens,"

"But my opinion could've been wrong," He said honestly. "I'll still read it, anyways. I can't start a book and then just… leave it,"

"Oh, neither can I," Hermione agreed hastily. "Even if it's a rubbish book, I still have to read it,"

"Same," Draco nodded. "Even if my favourite character dies, I still need to get to the end,"

"Exactly," the brunette said. "If you don't finish it, then I don't think you can have an opinion on it at all. Even if you only miss a page, you're still missing… valuable information,"

"I know. On the last page, it could end up being some sort of cliff-hanger that turns the whole story around. If you don't finish it out of anger or something, then you're an idiot," He scoffed.

Hermione chuckled. "I know! Your favourite character could die and then come back on the last _sentence_,"

"The last word even," Draco commented with an arch of his eyebrow. "I always read the last page of a book first," He admitted with a slight duck of his head. "…Just to see if there's a happy ending. I don't like not knowing,"

Hermione squinted. "Nah, I like the unknown. I like that a book can go anywhere. I don't like… spoilers," She shuddered. "I'd rather just find out by myself,"

"Blaise is like that," Draco shivered for a moment. "He can read a book without reading the last page and I don't know how he does it,"

"If there wasn't a happy ending, and the book _suggested _that there would be a happy ending, then I'd be really upset, but luckily most authors don't do that,"

"Yeah, I think even authors find it painful to write unhappy endings," Draco agreed, flipping over onto his back. "Do you think it's the weekend?" He asked her.

Hermione blew out a sigh. "I think it might be. We've had yesterday and today without any missions. Or maybe it's just a two-day break thing. It doesn't feel long since we've been here,"

"Then again, at the same time, it feels like forever,"

"Yup," Hermione approved. "I wish we had something to do, my eyes hurt sometimes," She blinked.

Draco thought, his eyes gazing across the land. "We could swim,"

Hermione laughed. "Don't be stupid,"

"I'm not being stupid," Draco said back, appalled. In fact, the more he thought about it, a swim would be really lovely. "I think I'm gonna go in," He said, his mind made up quickly. Hermione raised an eyebrow to him and crossed her legs.

"I'll make sure you don't drown then,"

"Okay," He shrugged. Getting up quickly, he pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the floor and then unbuttoned his jeans.

"Why're you undressing?" Hermione squeaked, covering her eyes with her palm. She heard Draco chuckle.

"I'm not getting my trousers wet; do you know how uncomfortable they are? Don't worry," He began in a teasing tone. "I'll tell you when it's safe to look,"

After the sound of zipping jeans and splashing water, he finally told her it was alright to look. She peeked between two fingers before completely dropping her hand, glaring at his smooth, pale back. He was such a child sometimes, but it was nice.

She grabbed Beauty and the Beast and looked for her doggy-eared page, glancing up every so often to make sure he hadn't disappeared.

After a good twenty minutes, Draco grew bored of leaning against the edge and turned around to look at her. He rested his forearms horizontally on the grass and rested his chin on upside of his left elbow. She was frowning at the book, chewing on her lower lip until it was bright red and bruised. One of her knees was brought up, bobbing up and down as she tapped her foot relentlessly against the soft grass. He smirked a little and then laughed, rolling his eyes. Her actions told him everything- clearly she was at a good part in the book.

Interrupting her, he shouted. "You should come in!"

Startled and frowning, she tore her eyes away from the page. "No! I'm reading,"

"I'm not blind, I can see that," He said under his breath. "So? You've read it before,"

"The answer is still no, Malfoy,"

"Why?" He asked, grinning.

"Because it's freezing, you're nearly naked and I'm reading!" She replied in annoyance.

"It's not that cold, I'm not naked and you've read it before. Just come in, it's better than reading that dusty old book!" He said, and he could see that she was considering it.

"No," She said in a rather quiet voice, tugging at the sleeve of her jumper. "I'm perfectly un-bored up here. I'll just watch you,"

"Fine, suit yourself," He smirked.

Another ten minutes rolled around and she threw the book aside with an angry sigh. She unzipped her jumper and then raised her eyebrow at him. "Look away!" She ordered.

He done so, even closing his eyes (because let's face it, if she caught him with his eyes open, she'd kill him) and waiting on her. After a few minutes, he felt ripples of water hit his chest and heard a small shriek.

"It is freezing, you liar!"

He laughed deeply. "It's not so cold once you've been in for a while," He turned around and snorted with laughter.

"What?" She asked with an appalled face. He looked away, smiling brightly.

"Nothing,"

"Tell me what it is!" She demanded, frowning at his grinning face.

"Nothing, it's just funny that you came in wearing a t-shirt," He revealed, laughing again as he looked at the dark purple t-shirt.

She sighed through her nose and pressed her lips tightly together. "Well, what did you expect? That I'd come in naked and let you perve on me?" enquired Hermione in a high voice.

Draco choked on a cough a little. "I wouldn't perve on you. Don't flatter yourself, woman. You're not even my type,"

"You're not mine, either."

"Pft," He grinned at her in disbelief. "You even have a type?"

Her eyebrows rose. "Yes, I do. And you are not it,"

He shook his head. "I'm everyone's type,"

"Sure," She agreed with a shrug of her shoulders and a fake-pout. "If you're a long legged, brainless bimbo and everyone's type is egotistical and blonde,"

He looked at her in shock. "Uh, some of them were brunettes," He informed her.

"Still brainless," She snorted in laughter.

He winced. He had to agree with her on that one…

"What can I say? I like long legs, and I'm not egotistical!" He disagreed, raising his pale eyebrows.

Hermione laughed, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned against the edge. "You are the definition of egotistical, my friend,"

"How is that possible? I'd change the way I looked if I could," He admitted, smirking. "But I could look worse, so I work with what I have,"

"Why would you change the way you look?" asked Hermione curiously.

He shrugged. "…I don't like the shape of my head,"

She burst out laughing, not able to speak for a whole minute.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," She said, wiping one of her eyes.

Draco falsely scowled at her. "I'm glad my pain amuses you,"

She punched him on the arm, rolling her eyes. "At least you look good at all. Some people don't have the luxuries that you have,"

His heart skipping a beat at the fact she admitted he had good looks, he responded. "I know, I'm lucky I'm so beautiful,"

"How do you even fit in this lake with an ego the size of yours?" She asked, looking away and smiling.

He began cockily. "Easy, my ego a part of my personality and not my body- therefore, it doesn't we-

"It was a rhetorical question," She interjected, shifting.

Under the water, her bare leg brushed his and she panicked, moving away at once. She tried to compose the tingles that flushed through her at the feeling of his naked flesh against hers, but they refused to, swimming around her stomach like fireflies. Her heart beat faster and her breath came quicker.

"Don't kick me," Draco frowned at her, moving closer so that he could kick her back. Watching him move towards her, she squeaked and hurried away from him.

"I didn't kick you," She said quickly, turning to face him. He grinned.

"Liar," He said, before putting both hands on her head and pushing her down so that she was funny submerged underneath the liquid. He laughed and immediately took his hands away as she spluttered, coming back up for air. She blinked, her jaw open, and wiped some water away from her eyes.

Once she could see, she flicked some water at him, catching him in the face and laughed when he (failingly) tried to piece his hair back into place.

"What is that?" He broke her laughter suddenly, an amused expression on his face as he looked at her neck. "Is that a tattoo?"

She pulled away from him instinctively and turned her face, trying to see what he was looking at. She didn't have any tattoos… that she knew of.

He grabbed her wrist to stop her moving and continued closer to her, his hand brushing away wet strands of her hair. He felt her unsteady breath on his ear and as he touched what he thought was the tattoo, it moved.

"Oh," He drew back a little, his fingertips still touching her wet neck. "It was just your hair. It's darker when it's wet," He explained, looking at her. Her wide cinnamon eyes were just inches away from his and his smile fell as he took in their closeness. His hand was still on her wrist and his other just barely touching her neck. Any laughter that was left dissipated quickly and the air around them was impenetrable.

His breathing also became unsteady and he looked at her lips, almost involuntarily, as if the pinkness gained control of his eyes and dragged them there. Her heart was hammering so fast he could feel the pulse in her wrist quicken and his own heart was the same- beating so loud that he could hear it in his ears. He couldn't pull away and his lips parted slowly and softly, but he didn't even notice.

Breathlessly and quietly, Hermione done the only thing she could think of. "Are you going to ki-AHHHH!" She pushed herself against him, kicking her legs as something wet and slippery slid past her leg. He grabbed her waist impulsively and pulled her towards him.

"What, what!?" He asked in alarm.

She panted. "I think a fish just touched me!"

His heart calmed and he threw his head back, laughing as she peeled herself away from him and climbed out of the water.

He shook his head, water drops flicking everywhere from his hair as he chuckled.

"Can battle a dragon but freaks out when a fish touches her…"

* * *

**Thank you -** Alice D, XDramioneLoverx, GirForPrez, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, Geuh, SlytherinGurrl, roseberrygirl, superstarem, Eternally Free, SasoriHime05, GeorgiaHarry15 and lovealan for reviewing the last chapter!

**GirForPrez: **The disqualified representatives return to Hogwarts and watch as the other contestants continue the tournament! And yes, they can be heard :) Thank you for reviewing! Do you enjoy the length or would you rather I made them a little smaller? Hugs!

**SlytherinGurrl:** The dome could be based off the Hunger games! When I thought of the dome, I thought of it more like the one in the Simpsons movie, but they are basically the same thing, right? So yeah! Also kind of based on the protective enchantments that Hermione puts up in the forest in the Deathly Hallows Part I movie! :) Thank you for reviewing!

**SasoriHime05:** Lol! You actually made me laugh! I hope you done the dishes after you read the chapter ;) Thank you for reviewing!

I notice that the Beauty and the Beast story is a little off- I tried to make the rose a little more important in the synopsis and figured that was the only way! It'll come back up later in the story! And... there was something else I feel like I had to say but I can't remember... Oh jeez... I hate having such a bad memory.

Okay, it'll probably come to me tomorrow! I hope you enjoy this chapter, lovelies! And I'm sorry it's up a few hours later than usual- something happened within my family today that required my attention D;

**-FallenForTheDraco**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack:**Augustana - Boston

* * *

_**DAY SEVEN**_

With a rapid jerk and a gasp, Hermione awoke, eyes wide and scattering across the shaded ground in front of her. Breathing heavily, she pushed her matted hair away from her face and pushed herself up into a sitting position. It was dark, probably early in the morning, in that pitch black place before the sun rose in a bright orange semi-circle.

She turned to look at Draco, lying on his stomach with his head side-ways on his arms. He was facing her, and she could tell by the slow, steady movement of his back that he was fast asleep.

Thinking back with a racing heart, Hermione tried to pinpoint the moment her dream had turned into a nightmare.

_Draco's eyes lowered to her lips, or maybe her chin, she didn't know. His smarmy grin dropped from his face and her own expression turned serious, wondering what he was thinking about. His lips parted slightly, and she felt his breath on her upper lip._

_Was he going to…?_

_She had to know._

"_Are you going to-?_

_She waited for it- for that slimy creature to slide up against her leg, but it didn't come. She tried again._

"_Are you going to kiss me?" She breathed, looking down at his shoulders in embarrassment. He unwrapped his fingers from her wrist and tilted her chin up. His eyes were dark and stormy. She could almost see grey clouds forming in his iris__es__._

"_Why would I kiss__**you**__?" He asked, his voice dusky and deep. She swallowed._

"_I don't know," replied Hermione honestly. Suddenly, in a flash, a smirk appeared on his face. But it didn't grow there- no. One second he was frowning, the next he was smirking. There had been no uplift of his lips. It was like someone had replaced him in the blink of an eye. That was funny- she didn't think of Draco Malfoy as replaceable._

"_Of course I'm going to kiss you, Hermione. Don't you see?" asked Draco in a now smooth and echo-y voice. She didn't like it. She preferred Draco's real voice- the raw and rough edge that he had to his tone, the honesty. "I'm into you. And you're into me."_

"_You are?" She asked, and she sounded nothing like herself. She sounded small, innocent… naïve._

_He nodded his head twice- a simple bob of his head up and down, but then, in another second, his eyebrows tilted down a little, and his eyes turned sad._

"_There's just one problem…" He said, looking away._

"_What's the problem?" She asked curiously._

_He licked his lips once and his face changed again. It was emotionless, but his voice had turned into a mixture of all three tones that she'd just heard. There was a hint of suave smoothness, a hard edge, and one that completely took her off guard- a broken voice. He sounded younger, and deeply upset._

"_You're a Mudblood." He stated. She felt her face change into one of confusion, and then hurt. She went to speak, but-_

"_Mudblood," He hissed._

"_Mudblood," He joked._

"_Mudblood…" He said sadly._

It was like his mood swings were literally haunting her. He'd only shown her three personalities so far- his angry, stubborn one, his playful, suggestive one, and his honest, almost guilty one. She didn't quite know which one she preferred.

In fact, she did know. There was a hint of something that he'd accidentally revealed to her a few times- he hadn't noticed his slips, of course. She'd observed him and watched as he failed to cover up some cracks in his otherwise concrete façade. When he spoke about Blaise- his face changed, and he held an almost faraway look in his eyes. When he asked her what she'd do during the war, in his position- he was genuinely curious and looked almost ashamed, as if he was terrified that he'd done the wrong thing. When he saved her from Clyde and Roxanne, he'd looked so angry that someone had wanted to hurt her, and he almost verged on psychopath, but was, thankfully, behind that line.

He was… the most confusing person she had ever met in her entire life.

But his mysterious personality was… almost attracting her. He was like a puzzle- and she wanted, so badly, to spend all of her time placing his pieces together until he was whole. She felt like he was a bit of a project, but not _just_ a project- he was her partner, and so that made it a little more personal. Had they been in Hogwarts, she could've spied on him from a safe distance and figured him all out, but since they were here alone (which was a little bit of an advantage) she had to communicate with him, which was hard, but surprisingly rewarding. Malfoy was a lot more… mature than she'd expected, unless, of course, that playful side of his personality was on its way out.

One thing she'd noticed was his lack of swearing now- she'd asked him to stop not long ago, and surprisingly, he had. Or maybe he'd just realised that crude words didn't do anything for her.

Another thing was that he hadn't called her Mudblood after she'd screeched at him to stop doing that as well. They were small changes, tiny changes, but he'd still done it. He respected her, she realised. He done what she asked- he took her seriously. He didn't test her patience (all of the time) and he certainly didn't underestimate her. It was a nice change from Harry and Ron.

She missed them terribly, but couldn't deny that being here with Draco had brought different parts of her own personality out. Parts that Harry and Ron didn't understand- almost couldn't keep up with. Harry and Ron were smart, and knew how to make her laugh, but they didn't _know_ her. They knew she'd be at the library, yes. They knew she'd already done her homework, yes, but they knew that because it was her routine, and because she told them. Draco seemed to know things about her… on instinct. He was impulsive. He could _read_ her without asking. It was like they were on the same page, a different page from everyone else. They could hold interesting conversations with each other and respected each other when they disagreed (although… that would take time) even their arguments weren't… serious anymore. It was almost like they were on their way to friendship.

But that dream… reminded her that although Draco had made small alterations, he was still… himself. He was still a Malfoy, and always would be. And with the Malfoy title, came loads of responsibilities. One of the main ones was that they didn't get into relations with anything less than a pureblood.

She wished he'd just be a man. Tell them that they were awful human beings for being judgmental and then make up his own rules for himself. If he ever told his father where to stick it, her respect for him would be higher than the constellations. She knew she was beginning to break him- just being around her for a full week had calmed him down and she knew he was confused, but at least he was looking at things from a different perspective now.

She wondered, and feared, though, if he'd act this way when they were back at Hogwarts. Once he was around his cronies, would he adapt quickly to his previous ways? And her, as well, once she was around Ron and Harry, would she feel different about Malfoy? Was all of this isolation playing with their heads and making them think the wrong things?

There was also a part of her that was still weary of him. She thought it was the logical part- that bookworm-ish, cautious side of her. It screamed at her not to take the chances, not to even talk to him, but she couldn't figure out why. Yes, he was a Malfoy and yes he was a great wizard, but she doubted that he'd hurt her.

Unless of course, he was an incredible actor.

But would he go to all the trouble? Would he honestly try and trick her into thinking that they were friends? And if so, what was he gaining from it? Was it a prank?

There was a constant remind her. Every time she even spoke to him, something in the back of her mind felt disappointed, as if she hadn't been able to resist him, like all the other girls.

Would she be just another girl?

"What's up your arse, Granger?" Draco asked, groaning sleepily. Hermione stilled, the vibrations of his voice tingling up her arms. Draco's sleepy voice was… seriously sexy.

"Nothing," She cleared her throat. "Just go back to sleep," She responded, but he was already gone. He was laying on his back now, an arm over his forehead as if he was swooning. His lips were parted slightly and he looked totally out for the count.

With great fear but determination, Hermione grabbed the forearm that was lying across his forehead and put it above him, taking a look at his face. He didn't even flinch. She wondered how he could sleep so well and not be on guard all the time. Perhaps it was the enchantments she put up.

His eyes were closed, obviously, but she knew that behind pale lids sat thundery silver eyes. His nose was straight and almost pointy, his cheekbones high and his jawbone prominent. It was his jaw that she liked best- that structured line that went from just below his ear to his chin. His lips were pouty, almost full but not quite. His eyebrows were pale and perfect- just the right length, just the right angle. She felt like she was looking at a very well-crafted doll.

His hair was pushed back, making it fluffy and soft. Some strands lay still on his forehead, and she wasn't surprised to find that the messy, bed-hair look worked for him. Every look seemed to work for him, and that made her a little envious.

There was a dull sting behind her eyelids, so she closed her eyes over impulsively and lay back down, facing him. She curled her fingers up and then rested her head on her palm, falling asleep within seconds.

* * *

"So, do we have to go looking for a task, or do they come looking for us?" asked Hermione in a curious tone, tearing her eyes away from her book to look at Draco. He was playing something that looked similar to muggle solitaire with himself.

He snorted and then shrugged, placing a card down. "I'm not bloody moving; they can come to us,"

She was both amused and irritated by Draco's answer. She didn't know if it was his slight laziness or her thirst for researching the grounds that they were on that annoyed her. The fact that he refused to move was rather entertaining, though.

She decided he was right anyways- the tasks, recently, had been coming to them. The only reason they had walked around beforehand was to eliminate other people, but now that they had the protective enchantments, nobody else was really a threat to them. Perhaps they should just sit back, relax, and wait for the tasks to eliminate people.

"I wonder what the next one'll be about," Hermione commented, biting her lip in thought. "Dumbledore said the dragon was our hardest one yet, so it'll have to be something relatively easy,"

"Shut up, Granger," Draco growled exasperatedly. "I'm concentrating,"

Slightly miffed, Hermione went back to her book and ignored him. He was in prat-mood today, and she knew that if she retorted with anger then their conversation would just end up in flames. She didn't feel like proving the logical part of her correct today.

As if sensing that they spoke about the competition, a scroll appeared in the middle of her book, sitting upwards. She didn't even tell Draco it was there, and opened it. After a few seconds of reading it, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Draco's head popped up as well. He spun a card around in his pointer and middle finger.

"What is it this time?" He asked after he saw her eyes trail to the bottom of the page.

Opening her mouth, Hermione read aloud.

"_After strict observation, we've discovered that there are many trust issues deep within the contestants. Your task today is simply to gain your partners trust. _

_Use Legilimens on your partner, and vice versa, to prove your trust. An invasion of privacy is something that requires a lot of faith in the other person._

_You'll have three attempts each to do this. If you fail to let your partner inside your mind after three attempts, you are disqualified. You cannot build walls, for if you do, you will also be removed. _

_You are, however, allowed to give your partner firm warnings. You can build a wall around one thing only. Make it count. _

_Good Luck," _

Hermione's heart beat a little wilder in panic and she saw Draco's eyes immediately focus. It was no secret that he was skilled in Occlumency, and he was probably building as many walls as he could around his mind. He sat up on his knees and rested against the balls of his boots.

After a bite of her lip, she leaned off of the tree and sat with crossed legs in front of him, grabbing her wand. Draco's eyes turned hard and he swallowed.

"I don't want you to look at my place in the war," He finally decided. It was a tie between his home life and the war, but he was more ashamed of the things he'd done during the war, and he definitely didn't want her to see that.

A blush spread across Hermione's freckles. "Okay," She said, shifting her gaze. "I don't want you to look at my sexual life,"

"What sexual life?" He raised an eyebrow.

The blush deepened. "Anything sexual, I don't want you to look at it!" She snapped. She wasn't ashamed or anything, she just didn't want Malfoy seeing her naked.

"My, my, Granger, if I didn't know you any better I'd think you just confessed to masturbating," Draco taunted, a sly grin on his lips. Hermione shook her head whilst frowning at him, ripping the bobble from her wrist to tie her hair back into a high ponytail.

"Let's just get this over with," Hermione muttered. "You can go first," She raised an eyebrow.

Draco nodded once, getting into a more comfortable position by crossing his legs. After giving her a second's preparation, he dove into her mind. Instead of searching for things, he let the images come to him.

"_I'm sure Harry's kissing was more than satisfactory," Hermione insisted, sitting on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room._

* * *

"_Oh, you see, Draco Malfoy's my friend and I'd like to buy him a birthday present," She started off with a confident grin. "But, you know, if he's reserved something then I probably shouldn't bother,"_

* * *

"_Why? I thought you loved each other…" Hermione muttered in distress. _

"_We do, sweetheart, but… well, we just don't get along anymore. Your mother will probably explain everything to you, but the important thing to remember is that we both love you very much," _

"_I don't want you to separate though," Hermione mumbled through her tears. _

"_I know, I know," An older man said, pulling her head towards his shoulder. "Everything'll be-_

"Don't," Hermione snapped, giving him a hard look with her eye that made him actually gulp. "That was private,"

He raised his eyebrows. "Nothing is private to me. We only have two shots left, don't blow them."

"_Harry is under the impression Draco Malfoy is now a death eater," Hermione almost rolled her eyes. _

_Ron shifted in his seat, giving a laugh. "You're barking. What would You-Know-Who want with a sod like Malfoy?" _

_Harry was absolutely convinced that he was correct. "Then what was he doing in Borgin and Burke's… browsing for furniture?" _

_Ron shrugged a shoulder. "It's a creepy shop; he's a creepy bloke," _

"_Look, his father is a death eater, it only makes sense," _

Draco, under curiosity, fished for any memories where she mentioned him, his need to know becoming a demand.

"_He looks different, don't you think? Draco. Almost ill…" _

"_Who could tell the difference?"_

* * *

"_It was just… Malfoy," Hermione muttered almost sadly. _

"_Did he hurt you?" Harry demanded in a stern voice._

* * *

"_No one asked your opinion," Draco sneered. "You filthy little Mudblood," _

"Stop it!" Hermione shouted again. "Why're you specifically looking at ones of yourself?"

Draco frowned at her. "Because I want to, and I'm allowed, and you can't stop me, unless you want us to be eradicated," He smirked, delving back in.

The experience was different this time, he felt like _was_ her. He could feel everything she felt, heard all of her thoughts, it was like he'd done more than a simple Legilimens.

"_I came here once with mum and dad," Draco was sitting in front of Potter, a book on her knees. It wasn't snowing, but it had recently. There was cold, fluffy snow on the ground. His voice was feminine. _

"_Years ago, it's just how I remember it- the trees, the river… everything. Like, nothing's changed. Not true, of course, everything's changed," He said, and his thoughts and feelings turned to one of sadness. For a moment, he experienced heartache. _

"_If I brought my parents back here now, they probably wouldn't recognise any of it. Not the trees… not the river," There was an even longer pause. "Not even me," _

_There was an aching pain in his chest and he felt the urge to cry, but he didn't let himself. Well, Hermione didn't let herself. He realised then that she was extremely strong- there were guards up, even around Potter._

* * *

_He couldn't control what he saw at all now- this was way advanced Legilimens. The next thing he saw would probably haunt him for as long as he lived. _

_His back was plastered to the floor, a weight on top of him. A head with volumes of spring-y, messy hair was in front of his face. The smell- he recognised the smell. It was a ridiculously expensive perfume. The floor beneath him was hard and cold, probably wood. The room was dark, and there were other people there. All he could do was look- his thoughts were… jumbled up. His mind was on something else. _

"_That sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts, how did you get it?!" A woman hissed. His throat tightened- it was Bellatrix. _

_And the more he looked around, the more he noticed it was __**his**__ house. _

"_What else did you and your friends TAKE FROM MY VAULT?!" _

_He felt himself crying desperately. "I didn't take anything," He managed to cry out through a constricting throat. His heart beat so wildly he thought it was just one continuous vibration. Panic ate away at his chest, his stomach flipping erratically. He'd never been more scared in his entire life. _

"_Ple-ase," He almost hiccupped, "I didn't take anything," He almost vomited just trying to get the words out. Her face was too close to his, he needed her to get off of him. She was heavy. She was… bony. She was hurting him. _

"_I don't believe it," She said, and he thought she was about to get up, but then she put her hand on his head, as if to hold him down, and put her wand to his wrist. She kept his head pressed away; so that he couldn't see what she was doing, only feel. And all he could feel was pain. On his wrist. _

_He remembered screaming, once that ended with a cry, and then again as the pain increased. The scream was so terror-filled and loud that it hurt his own ears. Everything started to get hazy, the pain was too immense, and he thought he heard himself beg 'please' again. Bellatrix only laughed at him. _

_He screamed again, and then again, and then he was panting. She finally got up and walked away. It took all of his effort just to turn his head, but he did, briefly hearing someone walk up stairs. Harry and Ron, he thought. It needs to be Harry and Ron. _

_But it was a smaller man. The goblin. Bellatrix started screaming at him the moment he got there, but he held his own and didn't answer her. He focussed on the aching pain on his wrist and shifted his eyes, trying to see what she'd done, but his eyes caught a curly hair floating in the air. It landed on him, and he immediately thought of Polyjuice potion, wondering how he could even think at a time like this. In the same direction as the hair, was his wrist, and he finally concentrated on it. The writing was messy, but it was clear what it said. _

_Bellatrix came up to him again, muttering something, but he couldn't hear. His eyes widened at the figure behind Bellatrix- Ron! _

_With an Expelliarmus, her wand was taken off her by Ron, and then a duel began. He could only watch helplessly as his father joined in- on the bad side. The wrong side. _

_He was stupefied quickly, by Potter though, and Draco wasn't sure to feel thankful or jealous because he hadn't been the one to curse him. His mother only defended herself, but then he was dragged up from the ground onto shaky, thin legs. Something cold and hard was pressed to his neck, and he recognised the perfume. Bellatrix yelled 'stop' from behind him and he let out a yelp, but it was light and female. _

"_Drop your wands," His head was pulled back, and his throat jutted out further. "I SAID DROP THEM!" _

_He heard clattering to the floor. He gasped as his hair was tugged too painfully. _

"_He's all bright, shiny and new again," She whispered. She whispered more things, but he couldn't focus on any of her words until she said, _

"_Call him," _

_His body started shaking again. Voldemort would take one look at him and kill him. He couldn't leave Harry and Ron. He let out a harsh breath. _

_He didn't know what else happened- there was a short, intense moment, and then something on the ceiling caught his eye. _

_That bloody elf sat on his chandelier and was untwisting it, coming down further with every turn of his hand. He knew what was coming and winced- He and Bellatrix were right underneath it. _

_With a loud crack, it was finally dismembered, and falling. He was pushed right underneath it with a scream and almost fell, but managed to walk right underneath it and into Ron's waiting arms. When finally there, he collapsed, but tried to mentally regain his strength. _

"I think I'm finished," He said in an emotionless voice, finally finding the courage to step out of her memory. She looked shaken up, and then nodded.

"Give me a minute," She said, breathing heavily. She tucked her fringe behind her ear and then sighed. Not wanting to deal with the memory and all the emotions it brought, she simply pushed them to the back of her mind and avoided them. They would stay there until she returned to Hogwarts. Only then would she be safe and away from Bellatrix enough to cry.

"Nothing to do with the war," She nodded. "Okay," She said, before digging into his mind. She was a little more powerful than he'd expected, and he strengthened the walls that surrounded his memory of the war.

His memories were, surprisingly, sorted into emotions. Hers were sorted in a sort of timeline, but his were organised by what he felt. It was like looking, very temporarily, at a photo album. Where he felt love, adoration and happiness was just… completely his mother. There was nothing else there except for a few Blaise, and even fewer Theodore Nott's.

She was also disturbed to find that the other box of emotions was dark and negative. When she entered those thoughts, there was a bunch of horrible feelings he'd ever felt, she guessed. There was anger, jealousy, sadness, caution, guilt, fear, distrust, rage, loathing, remorse, helplessness, worthlessness and grief.

So, he'd felt _all_ of that… and the only positive emotion he'd felt was… love? Bloody hell, Malfoy was more messed up than she'd originally thought.

She decided to get the worst over with first and searched through some of his negative memories, letting any of them pop out at her. Quite a few were simply black- as if he was hiding somewhere dark, or sleeping maybe.

"_Dad, what's my broom made of again?" asked Draco in a youthful voice. He looked around thirteen, maybe twelve, and his foot was tapping along with some silent music. He had a Quidditch magazine on his lap and was flicking through it. _

_In four steps, Lucius had reached him, and slapped him across the face. _

_She tried to contain her gasp, but knew by the stretching feeling of her face that her eyes had gone wide. She wanted to shout at Lucius, but knew she couldn't. _

"_HOW DARE YOU. I HAVE TOLD YOU MULTIPLE TIMES, YOU COMPLETE SWINE, THAT MY NAME IS FATHER. NOT 'DAD'." _

"_I…" Draco held his face in one hand. "I'm sorry," _

"_I'm sorry what?" Lucius demanded with a hiss. _

_Draco swallowed and kept his eyes on the ground at all times. "I'm sorry, father." _

"_You are to be without dinner. Go to your room immediately," responded Lucius. Draco got up and without even looking at his father, walked to the door quickly. The Quidditch magazine was in his hand and he breathed heavily through his nose. _

"_And don't bother telling your mother about this. If I need to, I'll erase your memory again. And stop crying. You're a big boy, Draco." _

_He swallowed once, and it looked like he was trying to control his anger. "I'll cry if I want to," He muttered under his breath, blinking as a tear rolled down his cheek. He thought he was safe, but his father had heard him. _

"_WHAT DID YOU SAY, BOY?! RAISE YOUR VOICE." _

_Draco turned around, frowning. "I'LL CALL YOU WHATEVER I WANT!" He shouted back, but it was obvious that his fear overtook him. His words were stuttered and almost hesitant. _

"_NO. YOU WILL NOT-_

"_YES I WILL! DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT EVEN MY REAL FATHER ANYWAYS!" Draco screamed._

"_What's going on?" Narcissa demanded with hard eyes, aiming the question at Lucius. She'd obviously heard all of the yelling, then. Lucius raised an eyebrow and pointed towards Draco- the person who looked more worked up in the argument. Hermione realised that Lucius was putting the blame on him. _

"_Draco, I've told you about your temper," Narcissa warned. She sounded soft and reluctant to give Draco into trouble, but after eyeing Lucius weirdly, Hermione realised that she was scared of him. _

"_I can't help it!" Draco hiccupped. "He makes me so angry," He openly started crying in front of his parents. Narcissa immediately walked over to him and cuddled him, burying his head in her shoulder as racking sobs shook his body. _

_Lucius sneered. "You're so weak, you can-_

"_Lucius!" Narcissa hissed with wide eyes, her jaw hanging open. "You won-_

As Draco thought of the events that followed that memory, Hermione was also sucked into one.

"_We think… that it might be good for you to see someone," Narcissa said slowly and carefully. All three Malfoy members sat at what looked like a dining table. Draco was on one side with his parents on the other and he looked much older -maybe in fourth year, or fifth year. His eyes had hardened and his features had changed a little, making him look meaner. _

_His face was completely straight, and Hermione realised that this was probably when Draco started shutting down his emotions. _

"_See someone? Someone who?" He asked coldly, sneering. The look on his face seemed to pain his mother and she looked away from him. _

"_A… professional, they can help you. They can give you anger management classes, Draco, you really need to control your temper," She shook her head. Lucius said nothing. _

"_I don't. Need. To control. My anger." Draco replied, but he spoke through his teeth, suggesting highly that he really did need to learn how to control it. _

_Lucius opened his mouth to speak, and it was the first time Draco had looked at him. He didn't look at Lucius as if he was family; he looked as if he was a stranger, or maybe a murderer. _

"_Your mother's right, Draco," Lucius's voice was surprisingly soft and even a little weary. Hermione frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong with the situation. Lucius seemed… almost scared of Draco. It was as if, in between the ages of twelve and fifteen, Draco had switched their roles and gained complete control. _

"_Don't. Speak to me." Draco warned, breathing through his nose. _

"_Now, come on, Draco, you're being absolutely ridiculou-_

"_I SAID DON'T FUCKING SPEAK TO ME." Draco finally blew up, breathing heavily at his father. Narcissa pushed her seat away and went to move, but Draco stopped her as he spoke again. _

"_I don't need help," He seethed through grit teeth. "And I'm not angry," With that said, he shoved his chair away with a loud screech and left the room._

* * *

_Next she was on a balcony, alone with Draco. He was leaning against it, thinking intently. His breathing was heavy and he looked ready to hit someone. _

_Another argument, Hermione thought sadly. _

_With shaky and determined but hesitant movements, Draco took both of his hands off of the stone balcony and then ripped off his suit jacket, leaving him in a tucked in shirt and black trousers. Looking down, Hermione saw a lot of people and realised that there must've been some sort of ball that was going on. There were people in dresses and men in suits. _

_Before Hermione even had time to realise what he was doing, Draco lifted his leg and threw it over the edge of the balcony rail. He started weeping in front of her and she ached to help him, but couldn't even move. He cried as if his heart had just been broken and his whole body shook. After a few cries, he gasped and breathed heavily, as if an inner battle was going on in his mind. He licked his lips and then threw his other leg over, looking down at all the people. _

"_Would you even care?" He muttered to himself. He put pressure on his hands and Hermione's heart thumped against her ribcage as she watched him. Was he seriously going to commit suicide? Did he really want to die!? _

_A door clicked. _

"_Draco? DRACO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" In a moment, Blaise had dragged him off of the balcony and onto his back. Draco winced in pain and then laughed. _

"_Calm the fuck down, I just wanted a better look," Draco grinned. _

_Oh wow, was he a great actor. _

_Blaise let out a sigh of relief. "Jesus Christ, I thought you were going to kill yourself," _

_Draco's eyes seemed uncertain, but after a moment, he was able to tug one end of his lips up. "Nah, was just havin' a look," _

She couldn't take anymore. She wanted to get out, but first she had to have some reassurance that Draco's life hadn't been completely bad. She went back to his positive emotions and searched before she felt drawn towards one.

"_Draco, __you know that I'd always choose you over your father. Yes, he is my husband, but you're my __**son**__. I'd do anything for you, if it would just make you smile," Narcissa said. _

_Draco hiccupped. He was young again, possibly even younger than the first memory. "But he says you'd choose him. He had you first." _

_Narcissa breathed in deeply. "I love your father. I know that's hard to believe, but I do love him an awful lot. But you, Draco- I would die for you. I wouldn't die for Lucius. You are part of me, by blood. Lucius isn't. He's just a man. You will always come first. I love you, darling," _

"_I love you too mum,"_

* * *

_"Can I give you some advice?" Hermione asked him in a small voice. Her voice startled him slightly, penetrating the silence, and he nodded, looking into her brown eyes. _

_She opened her mouth slowly, stuttering a few times before she ordered her words properly. "I know it's none of my business, and I know we don't know each other, and are far from friends, but… nothing bad will happen to you, if you don't do what others want. People might judge you for a while, but they forget about things soon enough, and then you'd grow up to be someone… who… was strong enough to make his own decisions. Someone to admire. Someone who, when told to do precise things, done the exact opposite, but made it work for himself because he was smart… and clever… and wasn't afraid of people. He knew who he was and stayed true to himself because he didn't let people brainwash him… just, something to think about," She said, a blush spreading across her cheeks. _

_She remembered the memory. In his vision, she was much more beautiful than she originally thought of herself. Her hair wasn't as bushy as she thought- more wavy, and her eyes were the thing that stood out most about her face. She was always under the impression that she'd had a chubby face, but with his eyes, she saw that her jaw was actually rather angular and her lips were fuller. It was like he had turned her insecurities into something beautiful. She almost didn't recognise herself._

_"I'll remember that," He replied, and he looked like he meant it. She smiled and nodded. _

_This was one of his happy memories? __**She**__ was one of his happy memories? Good God, the more she knew about Malfoy, the more she couldn't stay away. _

_He hated her, but she definitely had some sort of influence on him. And a positive one at that._

"I think I'm finished now too," Hermione said, trying to smile, but it looked more like a purse of her lips. Her heart lowered and flipped at the same time when she realised that he hadn't stopped her at all, even though she'd stopped him twice.

He looked at her like she was a different person, with a weird expression on his face. He looked like he was trying to contain his anger, or maybe an explanation.

She bit her lip and looked down, finding the intensity of his stare to be too much.

"Don't let the things you saw change your opinion about me. I was different." His voice was hard, stern.

She swallowed before answering him. "…I won't. I don't think you're the same as you used to be," replied Hermione truthfully.

His lips were still in a tight line, as if he was trying hard not to shout at her. "I'm not better, but I'm not bad," He said back.

Regaining the control and being a little confident, Hermione proposed, "I want to ask you something… about one of your memories," She waited for his response. He nodded at her, signifying that she could go on, but she took a moment to, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer.

"If-If Blaise hadn't… come… would you…?" She asked unsurely, hoping she hadn't offended him. He took a moment to answer, looking down and playing with his own tongue. He looked, almost, as if he didn't want to answer, but she wanted to know.

Eventually, he pursed his lips and replied with a small, broken smile. "Yes."

She hadn't prepared herself for the small gasp that tore itself from her throat. He had _actually_ wanted to kill himself. What if he had? And when he hadn't come back to Hogwarts, what would she have assumed? Probably that he left, claiming he didn't need any more education because he was already loaded. Or maybe someone had eventually snapped at his annoying attitude and murdered him. She just didn't expect that he himself would be the murderer.

"Couldn't though," He smirked suddenly. "I know you'd miss me,"

But she wasn't laughing. "You don't have to do that,"

His smirk dropped and he twitched an eyebrow. "Didn't do anything, you would miss me,"

"No, that- your dismissive attitude- Blaise fell for it, but I won't," Where on earth was all this confidence coming from? "You don't need to avoid it; you can talk to me,"

"Who are you to talk?" He laughed, but it wasn't humorous. "You talk about me avoiding my feelings, yet you're doing the same. You dodged the hurt that Bellatrix caused you faster than I lied to Blaise. In seconds, you were ready to reciprocate, because you pushed it all to the back of your mind,"

"We're not talking about me. I can handle myself, you can't! Just talk to me," She said in a pleading manner.

"I can't handle myself? I'm still here, aren't I?" returned Draco. "If you don't face your feelings soon enough then you'll end up numb," He advised.

Hermione's eyes flashed with fire. "Oh, and you'd know that, would you?"

"Yeah, I would," Draco pushed his lips together angrily. "It ended up happening to me."

Since he was finally revealing things to her, Hermione calmed herself. "Well, like you said, you're still here, aren't you? You obviously overcame it. If I end up becoming numb, then so can I," She shrugged.

Draco's eyes hardened. "Or you could just stop yourself from going through it in the first place."

"I-

"You have no _idea_ how it feels to be numb," He snarled in outburst. "To feel _everything_, but have to put a piece of glass between you and your feelings- to have to shut down- to have to give everything up. You don't know how it feels to want to just give up, throw everything away, and end everything. Nobody put an end to my pain; I had to pick myself back up and tell myself that life was worth living, even when it wasn't. I hope you never have to do that," He quickly twisted upwards and began to walk away, but she followed him, her eyes hard.

"Don't walk away from me," She ordered, frowning. He turned around and began to panic. He was finished talking to her- didn't want to speak anymore, but she was coming after him, and the more she spoke, the more he would, and the more he spoke, the more feelings he revealed, the more she _knew_ him. All this time he'd tried to stay calm, stoic, emotionless, and it had completely backfired.

"I _don't_ know how it feels to be numb. But you do. And I have a feeling you like it. You enjoy being numb, don't you? You've went so long without feelings that you've gotten used to it, and you just don't want them anymore. So, when you feel emotion, you panic,"

"What do you know about me?" He hissed. "You have no idea what I feel,"

"Yes, I do," replied Hermione softly. "I told you- I can analyse people as well. I don't do it with malicious intent, like you did, but I can still do it. I can still tell that you avoid your feelings, that everything you put up- it's all an act. You _act_ complicated, but really you're just simple. You put on this amazing performance- a perfect balance of anger, laughter and neutralism, but your mood swings are… incredible. At first I thought you were just messed up, mentally, but then I realised that it isn't even the truth. You lie, Draco. You lie to everyone, and yourself, on a daily basis. Why can't you just show emotion? Why can't you just be yourself?"

"Because!" He snapped. "Because I'm not normal, I'm a freak! If I was myself, I wouldn't be accepted and I need to be accepted or else-

"Or else what?" asked Hermione.

"It doesn't matter, I've already said too much… just… leave me alone," He said, shaking his head and walking away from her. She jogged to catch up with him though, and grabbed his bicep.

"I _said_, don't walk away from me. Don't you trust me? You can _tell_ me anything. I'm not going to judge you; I don't even have the right to judge you, because I'm not perfect. You can talk to me, finally let it all out, tell me what you're really thinking, what you're really worried about, I'm not going to tell anyone," Hermione said quickly, trying to say as much as she could with the little time that she had left. She knew she wouldn't get through to him this time, or probably even next time, but she had to make sure he knew that he could talk to her.

"No, I don't trust you! And why should I? You'll go back to Hogwarts and tell your little pals everything!" Draco snapped, blinking worriedly.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I won't. They won't be told anything. I'm not forcing you into anything, I'm just letting you know that you've had to break down for years, and you can do it with me,"

"I don't want to." He said stubbornly, his nostrils flaring. "And if I did, I certainly wouldn't do it with you,"

"Please. You need this- once you just tip over the bottle, it'll feel better. _You'll_ feel better. You won't have to hide, not from me," She replied.

"I already said no. I don't want to break down and I never will. I'm perfectly fine living my life the way it is, and I've been nice to you. I didn't have to be, but I have been. I can take it all away and we can go back to hating each other, if you want. If you keep trying this- this… whatever you're doing, then I will. I've let you in, a little bit, but if you push me, I'll kick you back out, you hear me?" He threatened.

"Just let me in, only me, look at me," She gestured to her body and laughed. "I'm tiny. You won't even notice if you just tell me something,"

"No, I let you in enough, I can't let you in anymore," Draco stressed.

Hermione took a step forward. "I'll let you in," She tempted. "I will. If you let me,"

"Why would you even want to be let in? Eh? And I don't want you to let me in. I don't even care about you," He lied, flinching when he said it.

Hermione shuddered as if someone had just thrown a pail of freezing cold water on her.

"But… I care about you." She said brokenly, her brown eyes wide. He stared guiltily into them, regretting what he'd said immediately.

Before he could even correct himself, she swung around and ran away from him, as if he was some sort of monster. He thought he heard her cry, but it could've just been his guilty conscience playing tricks on him.

"…I care about you too, Hermione," He whispered. The comment was swallowed up by the wind, and she didn't hear his confession.

* * *

**Thank you: lovesick and breathless, XDramioneLoverx, fediva, Geuh, littlelam56, SlytherinGurrl, Ms. Louics Cordice Zabini, roseberrygirl, GirForPrez, Little Japanime G****irl, superstarem, Eternally Free, SasoriHime05, Smileyface Devil, Calimocho and dramioneloverxox11 for reviewing the last chapter! **

**Lovesick and breathless: **Thank you for your reviews! I always look forward to them! I just noticed, by the way, that when I write out your usename, it only comes up as .breathless o.o I have no idea why it's happened and I'm so sorry! I just realised o.o From now on I'll just write it the way I have in this chapter, is that okay? :)

**SlytherinGurrl: **_you _are absolutely wonderful! Thank you for your lovely review! I've always loved the beauty and the beast as well! Growing up, I didn't really like Disney princesses, I was more into The Lion King haha! But Beauty and the Beast was my favourite princess! And of course! Link me to your Tumblr in a review, I'll follow you! :)

**GirForPrez: **I'm glad you enjoy the length! They're much longer than I usually write! Thank you for your kind words, they mean so much to me. Everything is better with my family, thank you! And you're welcome for my influencing you to listen to the Beauty and the Beast on youtube! :P That totally sounds like Dramione!

**Lovesick and breathless (again): **On Monday, when I uploaded the last chapter, I literally uploaded it right as you reviewed, so here is your response to your review for the previous chapter! :) Thank you so much! I feel like sometimes, I can be really lazy with my writing, but when I put effort in and I focus, I feel like I can really improve! I really take it as a compliment and totally agree with you! I don't think there is such thing as a perfect writer either, there is always room for improvement ;)! It _is_ going to unify the houses a little! I tried to hint at that when Blaise and Harry were cheering on Draco and Hermione, I'm glad someone picked up on it! The cracking already begun in this chapter, I hope you like it, and no, _you_ are awesome! ;) LOL! The part about the English paper made me laugh! Take care!

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter- I'm not sure if I enjoy it. I feel like Draco may be a little out of character, or if I've _just_ managed to save him... eep. Let me know! I'm sorry about not uploading yesterday. I had some things to attend to :(

If anyone is interested, there is a new link on my profile to a picture that has a bit of a preview of what will happen in the next few chapters ;)

**-FallenForTheDraco**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack:**First three quarters: In the house, in a heartbeat - John Murphy

Last quarter: Nothing :(

* * *

_**DAY NINE **_

A whole day and a half

That was how long she hadn't spoken to him.

He tried everything- apologising, (directly may he add) finishing that stupid Beauty and the Beast book, tried to make her laugh, tried to make her smile, but nothing worked. She was mute: always reading, sleeping, eating, or wandering off somewhere.

He didn't like it.

A while ago, it would've been the exact opposite. He would've told people, confidently, that he hated hearing Granger talk and that he wished she would shut the fuck up, but when it actually came down to it, it scared him much more that she was being so quiet. She was Granger- she was never _quiet! _

The only thing she'd said to him (at all) yesterday was: "I'm going this way," during the task. It was something totally stupid that he couldn't even concentrate on because his mind was preoccupied- something like getting parchment from a rock over the water. You couldn't levitate it, and you couldn't get wet. You had to be sneaky. In his opinion, the tasks were becoming feeble and stupid- or maybe that was what Dumbledore _wanted_ him to think. Anyways, he didn't know, or care, about the stupid task. He hadn't understood it at first and the instructions hadn't even been clear.

He was beginning to get pissed with her, which made him feel slightly embarrassed. He'd admitted (only to himself) that he cared about her and the moment he did, she completely ignored him and they were back to square one. He was angry at himself too, though. He didn't quite know if he was angry for letting her in on the first place or if he was angry at not telling her sooner.

He'd spoke to her twice this morning, and she'd said nothing back to him.

He had no idea what else to do.

He had never cared enough to pay attention to girls when they were in their moods, so he was completely clueless. Did he have it wrong all this time? Should he just leave her alone until she gets over it? Should he continue to talk to her until he finally cracked her?

That was the problem: since she wasn't talking, he had absolutely no fucking idea what she wanted. She could've at least had the decency to tell him before she fucked off into a world of her own and left him out of it. God, he was getting so pissed. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

His foot tapped relentlessly, and his lack of power was also an annoyance. He couldn't control what she said, he couldn't control his tapping, he couldn't control _anything_ in this stupid place and it was driving him nuts! Fucking hell, where had all his control gone?

But not just his control in general, his self-control had slackened also. He wished he'd caught himself sooner, so that whilst Granger was in this mood, he wouldn't feel so guilty and responsible about it.

"There's a scroll," Draco said suddenly, looking at the rolled up piece of parchment atop a rock just on the edge of the icy water. He looked at her expectantly- she was always the one to pick them up and read them.

But she merely glanced up once, and then went back to her book.

With a sigh and a twirl of his eyes, he pushed himself away from the tree and sauntered over to it, snatching it up immediately and not giving a damn if he rumpled the paper. He really couldn't give a shit about anything anymore, and the childish side of him was coming out. He wanted to destruct something, had to take his anger out somehow.

He read it over once and then threw it at her, battling the impulse to laugh when it socked her right in the nose and she made the funniest shocked face he'd ever seen.

"Pack your shit," He grumbled. "We're moving tonight,"

She read it over as well, wondering where they were off to, but didn't voice any of her concerns to Draco. She had a feeling that he was under the impression that she was angry, but that was far from the truth.

So what was the truth then?

She was embarrassed, so bloody embarrassed. She'd admitted that she cared about him, and in that terrible manner. Now, she didn't know what on earth to say to him. She couldn't tell him that she was embarrassed, because then he'd get the wrong idea, and think that she _like-_liked him. And she definitely didn't.

Plus, he had said, although he didn't really look like he'd meant it, that he didn't care about her. Even though there was a large possibility that it wasn't true, the words still hurt her.

So, she'd chosen to act angry at him. But, then once she'd decided she was angry at him, she had no idea how to act _not_ angry at him. Good God, how did he do this? Control all of his feelings? Should she just start randomly talking to him again? It was like she had completely clamped up, and didn't even know how to respond to all of the things he was saying.

It was also giving her time to think.

He had apologised profusely and continued to speak to her all the time, even telling her pointless facts and stories. It was sweet, how he was trying to get her to talk, but she also had a feeling he just didn't want to be lonely, and she was his only choice.

She grabbed her bag and read the parchment again, not really reading it the first time due to her own thoughts.

_You're going to be apparated to a house. It is not for luxury, though. It is declared haunted and you must complete the task when you get there with your partner. The task is not yet revealed, but will be once you arrive there. _

"Haunted?" She murmured to herself. She severely doubted that it would be haunted. She knew for a fact that ghosts were real, for they lived inside of Hogwarts, but they were so nice (Peeves was a bit of an exception to that statement) and because of that, she wasn't sure that horrible ghosts existed.

"Finally decided to open your mouth then?" Draco asked smoothly, his eyes hard and his mouth in a firm line. He looked like he was challenging her, cocking his head to the side and raising his eyebrow like that.

She let her eyes trail up his form until they settled on his head, touching her upper lip with the tip of her tongue as she thought of how to reply. He actually looked a little angry at her.

"Yes," replied Hermione eventually, finding no other effective response. He glanced at her once and bit his inner lip, as if contemplating responding to her, but then looked away from her and focused on the lake.

She gave him another few minutes. "So now you're not going to talk?" She guessed, taking in his silence as a revenge technique. He probably wanted to get back at her for being so quiet.

He cleared his throat. "Nope," He confirmed her suspicions.

"Well, I assume this task will be another hard one, since we're being moved. Don't you think it's a good idea that we communicate?" asked Hermione in a completely professional tone. There was no warmth to it, no personality. It was as if she was working with someone she hated.

He took in a deep breath. "Fine, we'll 'communicate' as much as we need to," answered Draco.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. Should she apologise to him for staying quiet? She had clearly pissed him off, and didn't want all of her progress with him to go to waste. But then again, he _had_ said he didn't care about her. He'd looked guilty whilst saying it, but that was the truth- he didn't care. She didn't give a damn if she was being immature, why should she try with someone who didn't care for her?

"Which will practically be all the time," continued Draco. "Seeing as we are partners in this place,"

Even when he didn't want to speak to her, he still did. Why was that? He was acting as if he wanted to throttle her.

"Yes, we are," Hermione agreed quickly, keeping her response short and sweet. She didn't quite know who would crack first, but had a feeling it would be herself. She was stubborn, but so was he. In fact, he was incredibly stubborn. Yesterday he had refused to move just because he thought that things should come to him and that he shouldn't have to go looking for things.

He released a deep and annoyed sigh. "Can we just forget about it?" He sounded like he wanted to say more, so she was silent for a whole minute, inviting him to finish, but he didn't.

She swallowed thickly before answering. "Forget that you don't care about me? Alright," said Hermione in a nonchalant and sarcastic tone. She saw him roll his eyes.

"Obviously I was just angry," Draco replied. He didn't admit that it wasn't the truth.

"So I have to suffer every single time you're angry?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "That's a healthy friendship," She quipped.

Draco mirrored her actions and finally turned to her, raising his eyebrow as well. "Who said we were friends?"

That kind of shut her up.

She looked away from him with pursed lips and then gave a soft laugh through her nose. "I guess we're not then,"

"I didn't say we weren't. I just asked who labelled us as friends," Draco reminded quickly.

That got her thinking. If someone did decide to label them, what would they be called? Would they be called enemies or friends? Or perhaps something in between?

"Nobody labelled us as friends," She clarified. "I guess I just didn't think we were enemies anymore," She said, partly voicing her thoughts.

Draco tongued his cheek for a moment. "I suppose we-

His heart skipped a beat as he was taken off guard and he was apparated into a dark corridor. He looked around for Hermione, but she was nowhere near him. He even shouted out her second name twice, but by the lack of sounds, it was like he was completely alone.

He hiked the bag up against his back again and swallowed, taking in the dusty and dark surroundings. He was in front of a large stain glassed window which was, at the moment, his only source of light. He knew he'd have to look for Hermione, so he cast _Lumos_ and started walking, steadying his balance so that he could make as little noise as possible.

He looked for a scroll, remembering being told that his task would be revealed to him when he arrived there, and found one sitting underneath a large skeleton hand. He didn't feel good about touching it, but did anyways; probing it with his wand to make sure it wasn't going to strangle him or something.

_The task is simple: You must not only find your partner in one hour, but free them as well. _

Free them? She was locked away somewhere? Was that some sort of riddle?

He swore under his breath and walked a little faster. He didn't have time to be fearful of what was inside this castle; he only had an hour to find her. He wasn't particularly thrilled about it, but tried to ignore their little dispute and think of the tournament first and foremost. That was most important right now.

He repeatedly looked behind him, making sure nothing silent was creeping up on him, and knocked on the first door that he came to. When nothing answered, he opened it and pushed it all the way, looking for some sort of light. There were nothing but candles, so he lit them quickly, not wanting to go into the room without some form of brightness.

The room looked _ancient_ -even older than Hogwarts. There was a large grand piano in the middle of the room, but it was broken. There were cobwebs all over it and the seat was gone. The white curtains, so ghostly pale in comparison to the dark room, were ripped haggardly, as if someone had done it out of anger. Stepping closer into the room, but making sure he was still in front of the door so that it couldn't swing back on him and lock him in there, he took a closer look at the curtains. The slices were sharp and clean- it hadn't been done with fingers. Probably some sort of knife.

There was a massive painting in the room as well, sitting above a fireplace mantel. It was of a man who had deep, almost orange eyes and wore a sharp red jacket. He looked wealthy- his posture, clothes and hairstyle all gave that away.

He didn't like the look of the room, so he left after making sure there were no trap doors or trick bookcases. He closed the door over and looked both ways down the corridor. He was heading towards complete darkness, and the other side of the corridor was bright and illuminated due to the window, but if Hermione was hidden somewhere, why would it be in a light and easy place? It wouldn't be. She'd be kept in the creepiest, darkest pace of all.

So he logically continued towards the darkness, but held his lit up wand, thanking God that, in that moment, he was a wizard and able to easy conjure his own light.

He searched the floor and ceilings, checking that there were no dents or grooves that disturbed the flow of the creaking wood. That would probably be a clue, wouldn't it? If you were making a trap door, there would be hinges, wouldn't there be?

The air around him grew cold and he shivered, but didn't really feel it. He couldn't let himself get distracted- unlike the other tasks, this one was timed. At the thought of running out of time, he threw himself into it and walked faster, taking time to trail his eyes over every possible thing.

There was another door soon, right at the end of the corridor. There was nothing to his right except another window, that was open and he quickly looked outside. His insides chilled a little as he saw crooked stones- it was a graveyard.

How clichéd- a haunted house with a graveyard outside.

But it was scary nonetheless.

He turned the rusty golden knob and pushed the door open. It was a bedroom this time- in the same state that the other one was in: messy, torn, and dusty. Something black and hairy scuttled at his feet, but he paid it no attention. It was probably just a poor spider that had been trapped in this room for years.

The bed had a canopy, but one corner had fallen and was now stabbing the bed at an awkward angle. The duvet sheets were ripped, the same colour as the curtains in the previous room. He didn't pay attention to much- it was obvious that Hermione wouldn't be in the second room he'd checked. He couldn't run out of time.

As he turned to leave a noise caused him to look down. The scraping of metal against wood was loud in the silent… well, place. Something shiny and gold was stuck under his boot, so he leaned down and wedged it out, spinning it around his finger as he placed his pointer finger inside the hole.

It was a key- an old fashioned kind of key. Deeming it useful, he shoved it into his back pocket and left the room.

The next corridor was different, brighter almost. There was a red carpet at his feet and torches lined the walls, so he lit them, finally casting _Nox. _It was bright enough now, but he still held his wand.

The next door was a closet, so he quickly moved on until he came to a spiral of stairs. He was walking down them half-way when he realised that Dumbledore hadn't restricted any spells.

Casting a quick patronus, he told it to send her a message and walked around as he waited. Nothing came back, and after ten minutes, he docked fifteen minutes off of his time, meaning that he only had three quarters of an hour to find her.

He bounded all the way down the spiral steps, cursing when a piece of wood jabbed his calf through his jeans. Luckily, the fabric was thick enough that it didn't piece him, but it did hurt.

There were more doorways, but no more doors. Every room he passed now was wide open for him to look into, and although it was easier, he didn't like it. A bead of sweat rolled down his back and he trembled at the sensation, wishing to god that his body would stop responding when his mind couldn't. One room looked like a library and he spent a little more time and effort in there, wondering if Dumbledore would send her to her favourite place.

He stilled after a few more steps. All of the torches had gone out, but he didn't cast a _Lumos _yet. He relied on his ears, but could only hear the settling of the house. A few creeks here and there, but that was all.

His breathing became the only sound and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. After a few seconds of simply listening, he raised his wand and cast _Lumos_.

He let out a yelp and took a rapid step back, his heart missing a beat altogether. His hand quivered a little and he shook it, trying to get rid of the numbness. He would _not_ give up just because some picture of a skeleton had given him a fright! He directed the angriest glare he could find to the portrait and carried on, trying to listen for her voice or… well… anything. It was completely silent, save for the wind outside sometimes, but even then, he couldn't hear that much.

He didn't try and light the torches again- he didn't want another unexpected fright like last time. Instead, he depended on his wand for light and hurried up. He estimated that he'd wasted around 5-10 minutes, leaving him with just over half an hour.

Goodness, where the hell was she?

Okay, he had to speed up. He had to get over his caution and just go for it.

"Ugh, fucking hell," He rubbed some spider webs off of his shoulder.

Before a second had even passed, Draco groaned in pain and his hand shot back up to his shoulder. A whizzing noise in front of him stole his focus and he looked up just in time to witness an arrow go smack-bang into the wood in front of him. The wood buckled and splintered underneath the force of the sharp angle and he turned around at the assortment of hisses behind him.

"You-missed! Give me it."

Draco ignored the pain in his shoulder, thankful that he had only been grazed. Before they had even noticed him, he stupefied them both and skidded around the corner and to peek. They grunted and stood up, and he wondered if he should kill one of them. He had no time to rifle his arrows out of his bag and he didn't want to use the killing curse again. He settled for casting _Expelliarmus _so that he owned their wands and then ran; putting a spell up against the empty doorway that would make them bounce off if they wanted in.

When he was sure he was safe, he examined his own wound. Blood seeped through his grey t-shirt, coating it crimson, and he lifted it, looking at the torn flesh. It was more serious than he'd thought and he was sure that a simple healing charm wouldn't do. He'd have to make a potion tonight as well, for goodness sakes.

A healing charm would also worsen his energy, and he needed as much as he could get. He winced at his injury, but left it anyways. It was his left arm and his right arm was stronger- it wouldn't make much of a difference, right? He placed a numbing charm on it so that the pain wouldn't distract him.

He bounded down several steps of stairs and came to a vacant hall that reminded him of the one at Hogwarts, only it was a lot smaller. There was a glass chandelier hanging from the roof and the walls were completely bare, a difference from the corridors that were lined with photographs and paintings.

There was a stage with some litter on it, as if someone had been there recently, but there were no other indications of anything living in the whole house. It was like it had been evacuated for centuries. Everything around him was old and… it felt religious. Perhaps they were in some sort of church. He didn't know, but he just didn't feel right in the place. It felt like it had a deeper meaning, like there was something behind it all.

But now he sounded like a loony.

He rolled his eyes at his thoughts and jogged across the hall, picturing ball gowns and people dancing. He was used to having balls… yes, both kind. His family hosted events regularly and he was always forced to go and "make a good impression." He wondered if the house belonged to a Wizarding family, and if they perhaps had a stubborn son who hated going to the parties.

At the end of the hall was another door, and since there was clearly nothing in the big room, he went through it, running smack-bang into someone. He held his wand up to their face and steadied them with the other hand. Her hair was-

"Finally, I found you!" Hermione said, panting. She looked behind her and then put her hands on his chest, pushing him out of her way. Relief flooded his body and he tingled at the pressure she'd put against him. He stumbled once and then turned to watch her walk the way he'd come in.

"Where're you going?" He asked, jogging to catch up with her. She looked back at the door almost worriedly.

"They had me in some sort of… basement, but I got out, they're probably coming after me now," explained the brunette.

Draco's eyes went wide. "Are you fucking mad? We could be disqualified for that!"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "We won't be. My task was to get out and come and look for you,"

"My task was just to look for you…" Draco said, his eyebrows narrowing as well. Could it be that they'd been played?

As he was thinking, Hermione's cinnamon eyes gazed to his shoulder. "You're hurt," She stated, bringing her hand up to touch his sleeve. His warm fingers gripped her wrist before she could touch it and she was startled, staring at him with her jaw slightly open.

"Don't. You might disturb the numbing charm I put on it,"

"Oh," She retracted her hand, trying to ignore that her wrist had gone cold the moment he'd taken his hand away. "That's what I was going to do. How did you get it?"

"An arrow, I'm lucky I wasn't standing a few inches to my left or it would've gone through me," He said, grabbing her elbow as she tripped down a step.

She smiled her thanks and then frowned. "Did you kill them?"

"Didn't have enough time, so I just took their wands," replied Draco, swallowing thickly. "How do we leave this place? Do we have to go outside?"

"I don't even know how to _get_ outside," complained Hermione, rubbing her upper arms and looking around. She wasn't complying with her rule to ignore Draco anymore- he was right earlier. They needed to speak to each other as much as possible.

"We could go out a-

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted, holding out her wand right above Draco's shoulder. Before he could turn around to see who she'd hexed, she was dragging him down a bunch of stairs quickly. He tried to ignore that her hand was tightly clasped around his. The intimate gesture made the ice inside him fizzle.

He heard rapid footsteps behind them and opened a door, shoving her into it and closing it as quickly and quietly as he could. The footsteps slowed and stopped right outside the door and although small and cramped, Hermione managed to bring her hand up to slap it across Draco's mouth. He hadn't noticed, but once the air wasn't filled with his panting, he realised he'd been rather loud. Hermione was pressed right against him, his chin against her forehead, just tickling her hairline. He was solid and it made her feel a little self-conscious of her squidgy parts.

The person outside lost interest and walked away, but only when she could no longer hear their footsteps did Hermione take her hand away from Draco.

"That was so close," He whispered. Hermione nodded, although they couldn't see each other very well. She braced her hands up against the door and tiptoed so that she could get her eye up to a crack in the wood that showed you all the way outside. She ducked briskly with a gasp, just in time for a sharp knife to be plunged into the wood. Draco grabbed her by the shoulders to pull her back, but she shoved him aside, booting the door as hard as she could with her foot. As she predicted, the culprit was sent sprawling backwards and she rounded the edge of the door quickly, her wand at the persons face.

"Rufus?" She asked disbelievingly, staring down at the dark-skinned boy. He snarled at her, baring his teeth, but before she could ask him what the hell he was up to, an arrow was dug straight into his chest from over her shoulder.

She stood up straight, ignoring the boy that had just threatened her life and then disappeared in a swirl of smoke, to glare at Draco. He glared back with harder eyes.

"Didn't I warn you about him?" He asked with a flick of his left eyebrow. Hermione's nostrils flared and she grabbed his wrist without a response, hauling him down the rest of the stairs. They creaked and groaned under their weight but didn't suggest snapping, so they moved quicker. When they got to the bottom, there was a hallway with a large door at the end.

Draco attempted to overlook the fact that she'd grabbed his wrist instead of his hand, but found that he couldn't. The feeling of her small palm in his was imprinted on his brain forever.

"This looks like the exit," the brunette said when they got to the end. She twisted the crystal doorknob and pushed the door. When it didn't budge, she pulled it towards her. When it didn't budge again, she gave an exhausted sigh and cast _Bombarda, _watching it explode.

"Where to now?" He asked her, frowning at their surroundings. They were in a small garden, right before the graveyard. Hermione continued to walk forward until she came to an iron gate, pushing it open and then stepping through into the cemetery. It was dark and foggy.

"Look, there's another scroll!" the blonde said, walking past her to get to it. She turned her head to see where he was pointing and watched him pick it up. He frowned whilst he read it her senses tingled. What was written on it?

"It's more coordination's," He explained, handing it to her. She quickly cast the spell that he'd performed the first time they'd got coordination's and blushed when he sent her a raise of his eyebrow. Okay, yes, once she'd found out that he knew a spell she _didn't_ know, she'd learned it.

"What?" She asked defensively, her guard going up. He smirked and then turned, walking in the direction that the arrow on the parchment was pointing.

"So who was it that was coming after you?" Draco asked after they'd been walking for a bit. He assumed that they were back on good terms.

"I don't know, I couldn't see their faces, but when you sent me that patronus it distracted them and I managed to get away. I had to climb eight flights of stairs before I even got to you," She responded, stomping over marshy grass.

"Did they hurt you?" Draco asked to make sure, his mind going to his own injury. Hermione shook her head and then blinked.

"No," said Hermione, almost in surprise. "They just watched over me. They didn't even answer me,"

"What did you ask them?" Draco asked, imagining her answer.

"Where I was, where you were, who they were, all the did was hand me a scroll that told me I had find a way out of the room and come and find you. I thought you'd have been locked up as well… where were you?" asked Hermione, finally wondering where he had been left.

He shrugged. "In some corridor, I just started walking and found a scroll that told me I had to find you, so I tried," He turned right when the arrow did, bumping into her shoulder as he done so.

"Well, at least we're here now," Hermione said back.

He snorted. "As if out here is safer than in there," He nodded his head back to the large house. "For all we know, there's shit out here just waiting to kill us,"

Hermione nodded distractedly, her eyes flicking to the arrow when it turned to face them. "We're here… what is here?" She looked around her, but all that was there were gravestones, grass and an empty, dug up grave.

Draco looked around as well, his eyes going from gravestone to gravestone before he read the one that was sitting at the empty grave. The person hadn't even been buried yet, there was a gravestone?

"Your name is on that," He blurted, pointing to it.

Confusion took over her face as she read it and her eyes flicked everywhere, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. "Is that today's date?" She eventually asked, pushing her hair out of her face when the wind blew it.

"I don't know…" He confessed. "I haven't kept up with the dates. I assumed you had."

"I haven't… but I think it is todays date. It's only been like a week and two days right? And we left on the sixth, didn't we? So it's around… the fifteenth or sixteenth… and this says I," She swallowed. "Died on the fifteenth,"

Draco punched her lightly on the bicep, smiling inside when she glared at him. "You're not dead, don't worry, beaver," He ruffled her hair. Hermione wondered how he'd become so playful after seeing her gravestone. Didn't it affect him as well?

"But I am worried," She frowned. "It doesn't say what time I die at, what if I drop dead in like five minutes?"

Draco shrugged again. "Then we don't win. What's the big deal? Nothing is real here, remember?" He told her.

She truly did consider what Draco had said, but couldn't shake the feeling of seeing her own gravestone. Who put it there? And more importantly, why did they put it there? It was like the grave was just sitting waiting on her.

Draco gave an angry sigh. "We finished the task and found each other so I don't even know what we're doing here,"

She pointed to the parchment. "This is why we're here. There must be something here that we have to pick up… or maybe this is how we get home or something,"

"Seriously?" Draco snorted. "You're calling _that_ place home?"

"What would you rather I called it?" asked Hermione, folding her arms over her chest. She went as close to the edge of the grave as she dared and then leaned over, looking to see if anything was inside.

"If you fall, I am not coming in there to catch you," Draco warned.

Hermione sent him a faux glare and then smiled. "You're right, because I'm going to levitate it, you moron," She growled.

Draco arched an eyebrow in question at her sudden anger and rolled his eyes, walking away as she crouched down and levitated whatever it was.

"It's a telescope!" She beamed, holding it out in front of her. It was a little heavy, but she managed. She noticed behind the telescope that her name dissipated from the gravestone and grimaced- why the hell had it even been there in the first place? If it was a joke, it wasn't a very nice one.

With a buzzing sound and a shift of their surroundings, they were back in the forest.

"Why'd we get a telescope?" asked Draco, frowning at the object and running his fingers over the cool metal.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, sitting down against the tree. "Probably because we learned astronomy- d'you want me to heal that?" She asked, frowning at his arm.

Looking down at his arm to see what the hell she was talking about, he remembered the arrow that had grazed him and quickly took the numbing charm off, hissing and wincing when the pain shot through him. Hermione face twisted into sympathy as she watched him.

"No, it's too big to heal with a charm," He said, pushing himself up. He, without thinking, gripped the neckline of his t-shirt and pulled it up and over his head, bunching it into a ball beside him. He sat inspecting the wound, thankfully turned away from Hermione, whose cheeks burned.

Bloody hell, he was beautiful.

She always assumed Malfoy would have some sort of six pack with raw, bulging muscles that he'd brag about non-stop, but his body was quite the opposite. His stomach was slender, flat and pale- the only definition was two lines that went from his outer hips and travelled down further. The tone was all in his arms, actually, and she hadn't classed him as a muscular-arms kind of guy. Well, he was full of pleasant surprised, wasn't he?

"Bloody hell, Granger, would you like a picture?" He smirked, watching as she blatantly checked him out. She let out a breath and looked away, her gaze flicking everywhere but him.

"I uh… I'm gonna get started on the potion," She said, grabbing his bag and walking away. He watched her every move until she came back, his cauldron filled with water. She placed her wand inside the water, watching as it started to boil, and then grabbed ingredients from his bag.

"So, do you think I'm sexy or not?" He winked at her. She tried hard not to laugh, but ended up letting a small smile slip out.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," She shook her head and measured out some things. "If you want to make yourself useful then you can go and make sure that the protective enchantments are still up. If they aren't, then put them up," She ordered.

Draco was still grinning. "Should I put my shirt on to do it?" He asked her teasingly.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't care as long as the enchantments are up, but unless you want this spilled on your t-shirt then I advise you to keep it off," She mumbled, not realising what she'd just confessed until a minute after.

Draco's grin grew even larger and she scolded herself in her head, stuttering to try and explain herself. The blonde merely got up and ruffled her brunette hair.

"It's fine, Granger, just admit it," He replied, before walking away. Glad that he'd started off behind her, she could actually concentrate on the potion. She was still a little miffed about the gravestone, but tried not to be. It was probably just trying to warn them that their time was up or something, Plus, with Draco putting up the protective enchantments, she felt a little better.

She also kept thinking about yesterday. Every time she did though, her heart seemed to sink into her stomach and create a terribly upsetting and uncomfortable feeling. She heard his words echoing in her mind, but doubted he _didn't_ care about her. If he didn't, he would've have trusted her and joked with her. He had to at least feel something.

She wasn't only upset because of his words though, it was his memories too. His words said one thing, but his thoughts said another. He cared about her enough to associate her with the positive emotions in his life- that had to be something, right? The only other people there were his mother, Blaise and Theodore.

The reminiscences of himself as well were actually awful. She kind of admired him (although she hated his attitude problem) for being able to laugh and joke even though he'd gone through all that. Then again, Harry had gone through… well, she couldn't say worse, but their problems were kind of on the same page. She also admitted that she was kind of glad Blaise had walked in at the right time.

She wished she'd known earlier. She could've helped him, even if they were enemies. She wouldn't turn a blind eye to someone in need, but well, they hadn't even been friends at that time, had they? So even if she'd offered him help, he probably wouldn't have accepted it. There was no point in her dwelling on the past; there was nothing she could do about it. She could only focus on the future, and the present.

And in the present, Draco Malfoy was topless and sitting back down in front of her.

She stirred the potion a little faster, trying to keep her eyes off him. It wasn't that she was attracted at him, it was more like… I mean, well, you didn't see Malfoy's body every day, did you? And besides… she hadn't gotten a very good look the other day, when they were in the water. Now, she could see him clearly, and… it wasn't her fault that she didn't want to look away! She was an adolescent girl, and from time to time, she would enjoy a second to admire a guy's body.

Even if it was Draco Malfoy's.

"You're drooling,"

She was an idiot for checking, throwing the back of her hand up to her mouth, and he howled with laughter, his nose scrunching up.

She tsked. "Don't be so immature, Malfoy," She kept on stirring.

"It's not my fault that you actually checked! That just means it was possible," She could just tell by the sound of his voice that he adopted a massive smirk.

"I was only drooling because half of my brain cells died just looking at you and my body needed _some_ way to rid them from my body," Her lips tugged up into her own little smirk.

He looked highly affronted, but then wiggled his eyebrows a few times and licked his teeth beneath his lips. He rubbed his hands on his thighs. "God, these are tight. I think… I think I might take them off," He feigned discomfort.

"No, you bloody well won't!" She responded immediately, making him laugh even harder. He was tempted to take them off anyways, so see how she would respond then, but his arm actually hurt far too much. It had been an effort just to take off his shirt.

Her heart seemed to calm a little. "You're a pain, Malfoy," She complained.

"But you enjoy it," He said truthfully, and was glad when she didn't deny it. He cleared his throat and suddenly looked a little sheepish.

"Your name wasn't on that gravestone, by the way," He pursed his lips to keep in laughter.

She frowned, looking up to him. Did he know she'd been thinking about that a lot? "What?" She asked him to repeat.

He made a face that looked guilty. "I charmed it there for a laugh. It was blank, but you really looked like you believed it, so I decided to tell you,"

He ducked as a jar of moondew drops almost collided with his head and laughed at her annoyed face.

"You're an arse," She commented, calming down quickly. If she was honest, it was such a relief, but she was still angry at him. "What was the real reason you done that? That wasn't very nice, Malfoy,"

Draco looked a little uncomfortable suddenly, and shifted. "I wanted to see if the thrill was still there, y'know… when I decide to prank you,"

"And is it?" asked Hermione with raised eyebrows.

"No," He admitted, looking down.

* * *

Thank you: Ms Louis Cordice Zabini, XDramioneLoverx, Geuh, lovesick and breathless, Calimocho, ArcticPuppet, SlytherinGurrl, bicorn-tana, dramioneloverxox11, superstarem, roseberrygirl, Ash, Alice D, Rayne-Malfoy10, and fantasia-49!

**XDramioneLoverx: **Of course he will! I do admit that it will be a very slow process through. I'm trying to keep their relationship as realistic as possible :) Thank you for reviewing!

**Lovesick and breathless: **I thought he was! I'm glad you saw it too-hopefully he's a little better in this chapter. Since we never really got a romance-y view of Malfoy I always find it quite difficult to transfer him and Hermione from enemies to friends, but practice makes perfect I guess! Yeah, exactly- I want to show how strong he was, because a lot of people just see him as, ah the bully who regretted all his decisions and became a coward, but he gave up his childhood to save his family, and that's pretty strong to me :( Pennames are so hard to make up! I used to make like a different penname for every single account, and then I was like "oh, bugger this!" and now I just use "fallenforthedraco" everywhere haha! Thank you for reviewing lovely!

**SlytherinGurrl: **I followed you! My name is just the same on there :) thank you for taking the time to do that, you are incredibly sweet! Thank you for reviewing!

**ArcticPuppet: **Haha, I actually take that as a compliment! At least I can get Hermione's second/third year personality right :P Hermione is, obviously, my struggle in this story. I am trying, but I'm clearly getting something wrong. As I said above though, practice makes perfect ;) thanks for reviewing!

**dramioneloverxox11: **I don't know _exactly_ how many chapters yet, but I feel like the progress will be slow, so at least over twenty! If I get a rougher idea then I'll, of course, let you know! It might even surpass thirty chapters... I'm glad you enjoy the angst (there will be lots of it... what Dramione story wouldn't have angst? haha) and thank you so much for your kind words lovely!

**roseberrygirl: **Definitely a first step towards healing! Sooner or later, Draco will have to take up Hermione's offer of talking to her about things ;) thank you for reviewing!

**Ash: **There will definitely be twists and things that the two have to conquer, but yes, they will eventually fall in love! Yay! I believe that trust should come before love, and usually when I write, I write that Hermione and Draco have this immediate attraction to each other, but I'm actually going to let them be friends in this story first, just to see how I can do with it! Do you think that's a good idea? Thank you for your review!

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I thought a little change in scenery might be nice! And how bad was the joke that Malfoy played on her?! He's a little brat... But at least he admitted that he doesn't feel the urge to make fun of her anymore! Progress!

**FallenForTheDraco **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Harry Potter.

**Soundtrack:**Stateless - Bloodstream

* * *

_**DAY NINE (continued)**_

"Okay, I think that should be it about now," Hermione said, stirring the potion a couple times more with the ladle. Draco watched it intently, comparing the green colour to the walls of his Slytherin common room back in Hogwarts. God, he didn't think he'd ever miss that place.

"Alright," He groaned, pushing himself up with one arm. He leaned against the tree behind him and waited for her to pour the potion into a small vial.

"Um…" Her cheeks burned a little as she mumbled, trying to think properly. "Will you be able to do it… or…?" She trailed off, hoping to God that he'd be able to handle it. The last thing she needed was the end up passing out because of touching Malfoy's naked chest. Well, it was his arm that was hurt, but still, even being near him when he was topless was having a bad effect on her.

He smirked as he realised why she'd become so awkward around him and bit his lip lightly, his teeth attacking the pink flesh, marking it red. "I don't think I'll be able to, actually, it's starting to get sorer,"

He watched her compose herself, watched as she took a deep breath and then nodded, her eyes going a little out of it as she inwardly spoke to herself. "Okay," She convinced herself, nodding. She shuffled towards him on the grass and poured some of the potion onto her hand, handing the half-full vial towards him.

"Here, drink this whilst I put it on the cut. It'll be more effective if you drink it and apply it," She ordered. He nodded and took it from her, swallowing the horrible tasting beverage. He did it quickly so that he could have fun whilst watching her try to apply the balm on him. Her facial expressions were hilarious and she looked genuinely mortified.

"Okay… if it hurts then… just tell me, I'll stop," said Hermione, coating her fingers in the green liquid. Draco smirked at her.

"It doesn't hurt," He said smugly. He wanted to keep her fingers on him for as long as possible, but he had no idea why that was. It was funny to make her uncomfortable, but he also… kind of liked it. Her fingers were feminine, warm and dainty.

"Is that enough?" She asked, extracting her hand as quickly as she could. Draco shook his head, twisting his shoulder towards her slightly so that she could see the full cut.

"No, you missed tonnes of it. Jesus Christ, Granger, be generous, you've barely even put any on. D'you want me to heal quickly or not?" He mock-complained, examining the small glaze of fluid over his cut.

Hermione nodded, breathing out quickly and then took some more from her hand, rubbing the amount over the wound. "Does it hurt?" She asked when he shifted slightly.

It wasn't that it hurt; it was the fact that she was crouched down right in front of him. Her knee was jabbing into his thigh so that she could get closer to him and her fringe tickled his shoulder as she leaned her head down to get a better look. She was incredibly close, and if she lost her balance at all, well… she'd fall on him.

"Not much anymore," He said, watching his wound through a small slit in her fringe. Skin began to stitch itself back together and the blood started to vanish.

"I think that's enough. Did you drink it?" asked Hermione, looking at the empty vial before he could even answer her question. He nodded, his smirk gone as he took in how _really_ close she was this time. Her face was so close to his that his eyes threatened to go crossed if he tried to look at her nose and when she sighed, he felt it on his lips and nose. She frowned as she pushed the cork back into the neck of the vial, closing over the small bottle. She hadn't even noticed their position yet. She was still crouched down, her knee on his thigh. It was actually dangerously close to slipping right into a very uncomfortable place, but he couldn't even think of what could happen if she happened to slide. All he could see was brunette hair and copper-y, cinnamon eyes.

His eyes trailed from her eyes to her lips and he swallowed thickly. He'd never thought of her as attractive since that day he watched her in the waterfall, he usually just seen her as 'not bad looking' but not anything special. However, now, as he watched her sugary pink lips, he suddenly wondered how it would feel to kiss her. Had she ever been kissed before? Probably, but not properly.

His blood started to boil, but not in an angry way. No, it was more like the feeling he got when he was…

Shit. He was attracted to her.

Maybe only in this moment, would he admit that she was pretty. He doubted, very highly, that he'd think of her as pretty for his entire life. No, this was just his body's way of telling him that he hadn't had any in very long.

And that she was the only decent girl in this… place.

Just as he thought about how it would feel, she licked her soft lips, coating them with a wet shine.

Jesus Christ, he needed to stop ogling her.

It was as if she knew what he was thinking about it, because then she assaulted her bottom one with her teeth, dragging it out from underneath her top teeth until it was released. He watched her fixedly, unable to tear his eyes aware. Did she know she was being so… hot?

Fucking hell, what was he thinking, wanting to kiss Granger all of a sudden? He was absolutely mad, insane, crazy, senseless, foolish…

But that didn't stop him from pressing his lips to hers.

Her lips were as soft as he'd imagined, but he only got to feel them for a second before she pulled back, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide and frowning. "What the hell?" She asked him, snapping him out of his daydream where she was attractive.

His shocked expression faded into one of anger as well. "What the hell, Granger?" He echoed, acting as if it was her who had kissed him.

Hermione pulled a face that communicated: _isn't it obvious?!_

"You just-

"Shut up!" Draco growled. "I didn't kiss _you_, I knew you were going to kiss me and I didn't want you to feel insulted when I pulled away, so I just let you," He said, raising his eyebrow in her direction, daring her to challenge his theory.

She blinked, her jaw still wide open in an 'O' shape. "I was _not!_ What on earth made you think that?!" She demanded.

Draco thought hurriedly. "You kept biting and licking your lips," He shrugged. "It's not my fault you don't know how what your actions say,"

"I know perfectly well what my body language says! And it, for a fact, did _not_ say I wanted to kiss you! I bit my lip because I was _trying_ to get this stupid stopper back into the bottle but I can't," She complained, looking down at her hand that contained the stopper and bottle. Like she'd said, the stopper rolled out of the vial after refusing to fit.

"Yeah, yeah," He rolled silver eyes in a perfect circle. "Just confess, Granger. No woman can be around me for long without wanting a good snog," He winked.

"I don't want to snog you! And bloody hell, Malfoy, you are so vain. Did you ever think that there might be _one_ girl who _doesn't _want to insult herself by being attracted to the likes of you?" asked Hermione in a rage.

Draco's eyes became more playful and he grinned. "By going against the fact so much, you're kind of admitting that you are attracted to me. You're familiar with denial, Granger?"

"Of course I know what denial is! And I know what it is enough to know that I'm not _in it, _you are. You're the one who kissed me, don't you dare try and say it was me," She warned him, panting. Her cheeks were flushed and the delectable redness went all the way down to her chest, past her t-shirt.

He kept on smirking. "It wasn't me. It was you. You wanted to kiss me, so you did. Come on, Granger, you could at least be nice to me for not rejecting you," He teased, his mouth in a wide smile.

Hermione noticed his teasing tone and her nostrils flared. "This was a prank. You played another bloody prank on me; I cannot _believe_ you, Malfoy! Can you not let me live a prank-free life for just two hours?! Stop bloody laughing, you git!" She said, slapping him on his good shoulder as he howled in glee.

"You make it so easy for me," He admitted. "And your reactions are hilarious. You get so angry,"

"It is not funny! I get angry because you are a complete prat and… and… you don't even take me into consideration! What if I just had a heart attack because my enemy kissed me?! Or what if I secretly liked you and kissed you back?! Ey?!" She breathed heavily, her chest heaving.

He raised an eyebrow in flirtation. "Oh, so you're finally confessing then?"

Her face adopted a confused expression for a moment. "Confessing wha-?" And then contorted to one of anger. "Oh, you are absolutely insufferable!" She started hitting him again. "I _definitely_ don't like you right now,"

He threw his head back and chuckled deeply. "Ah, Granger," He sighed, almost in content, smiling. "You're so funny,"

"And you're so _not_ funny," replied Hermione, but a smile was growing on her face now. She couldn't help it, really- being with him in a playful mood was so much better than him being a prat, or, even worse, an angry prat. "I hope your arm takes ages to heal," She added for another bite.

He simply laughed at her. "Are you sure about that? Then you'll need to do everything for me, since I'm hurt," He feigned pain. "And… I need a shower…"

"Now you're just pushing your luck," Hermione warned with a small smile.

Draco groaned, his face twisted in mock agony. "I can't… reach…" He started to laugh. "My arse…"

She slapped him, targeting his good arm, but got him more on the chest. "_Never_ in my life will I wash your _arse_, Malfoy! You're so disgusting," She said, shaking her head at him as she tried to get the stopper of the vial on again.

He continued to chortle. "So take it back then,"

"Take what back? No! I don't want your arm to heal now, especially for that comment," said Hermione.

Draco wiggled his eyebrows at her. "In that case, I can't really reach my balls either,"

Another slap. "You are… the vilest person I have ever met!" She laughed. "The world would have to end before I even _touched_ your arse, or… those,"

He chuckled at the fact she couldn't even say the word. "You're the prud-iest person I've ever met,"

"Careful," warned the brunette. "I might mishear that and think you called me _pretty_,"

His smile slipped for a moment. "You are pretty," He admitted as if it was the clearest thing in the world.

She looked shock at him for a moment, her own smile vanishing from her face. What? She didn't know she was pretty? He thought she knew…

Hermione looked away from him for a moment and he saw her throat move. Eventually, she turned back to him with a tiny smile. "Thanks," She replied sincerely. Once their laughter had subsided, the moment became tense and she moved away from him, sitting back at her own tree. Draco Malfoy had just called her, Hermione Granger, best known for her amazing school marks, being the best friend of Harry Potter and being a Muggleborn war hero, pretty.

Was she? And why did he think so? Was it because they were alone together, and had finally become friends, or had he always thought that about her? She didn't know why she cared so much, but figured it was because Malfoy was _the_ guy of the school. He was the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful guy ever and if he thought a girl was pretty, it practically meant they were worthy. And _she_ was worthy… was this his way of saying he didn't care that she was a Muggleborn anymore?

Or maybe he was just joking… but he didn't _look_ like he was joking. He'd looked into her eyes as he said it, and those clear grey blue eyes didn't lie to her.

And how had she responded? Like a total arse. She'd said 'thanks' and then moved away. She didn't even compliment him back! Then again, she had admitted that he was beautiful a few days ago, so, that makes up for it, right? Even though he hadn't heard her…

He got up to walk over somewhere, but she didn't follow him. In fact, she barely even registered the fact that he'd walked away from her. Her mind was reeling, and she could tell that she was blushing. In the same day, Malfoy had kissed her (albeit it was a joke) and called her pretty. He had _definitely_ warmed up to her, and it was extremely flattering, hearing a compliment coming from _him_. It almost made her tingle inside.

She replayed the kiss in her head. It was only a second or two long, but his firm yet soft lips were engraved in her brain. She kind of… wanted to do it again… for longer this time, and see if it would feel any different.

She deleted her thoughts quickly, growing a fear that maybe Malfoy could read minds. She became paranoid, but her face heated up again when he came back and smiled at her. He had two scrolls in his hands and he threw one at her, sitting by the tree again. He leaned away from her whilst he opened his, so she done the same.

_Mione, you done bloody well with that Dragon, by the way! You're so brave… no wonder you were sorted into Gryffindor! _

_Everyone here is fine, just in case you're wondering. Sorry I couldn't write to you last time, I was at Quidditch… s'pose Harry already told you that though, aint he? Well, we decided to take it in turns, and so your next letter will probably be from him. _

_Apparently this has to be really small, so I'll just get to the point. I don't know why it's easier to write this on paper. When you get back, how about we finally talk about that kiss? _

_Missing you, _

_Ron. _

Just like that, her thoughts of Draco diluted and they were filled with Ron. God, she missed him a lot. She missed Harry too, but Draco and Harry had a lot of the same traits, and so, she didn't always feel that far away from Harry really.

She bit her lip, wondering what to do. She felt like she'd kind of cheated on Ron, even though they weren't dating. You didn't have to be a genius to see that they liked each other, but Hermione had been having so much fun with Draco that she'd kind of forgotten about him. Was that okay? Was this bad? Was she suddenly a horrible person?

Plus, even though she would never admit it, she felt like maybe, her and Draco kind of… flirted sometimes. It was entertaining, and she enjoyed it a lot. It made her stomach tingle and her cheeks always ended up tugging into a smile. He made her smile a lot.

She pondered what Draco's letter said. Was it from Blaise? Yeah, it probably would be. Blaise seemed to be the only person Draco talked about, and sounded like he was the only one Draco even trusted.

At the same time, Draco scanned his letter from Blaise.

_Mate, well done with that dragon! I almost took a shit fit when I found out, made a fool of myself and everything. Theo's askin' for you, by the way. Everything is pretty much an arse around here without you. I have nobody to play pranks on because Granger is gone and you're fucking with her. I feel like a little girl writing in my diary or something, so you better appreciate this, Mmkay? I still might miss your company. A little bit… a tiny bit. _

He smirked. He missed Blaise a lot, actually. Had these strange things been happening to him in Hogwarts, he would've gone straight to Blaise for help. Not for a sit-down session where he cried about his feelings, no, that wasn't how boys done it. He relied on Blaise to open his secret stash of alcohol and then he'd proceed convince him that he _didn't_ find Granger attractive.

Because he couldn't.

He cautiously looked over to Hermione, wondering if she was finished with her letter, and she looked as though she was, but it was more the expression on her face that bothered him. She looked like she was concentrating on her thoughts, but they looked like… bad thoughts.

"What's wrong?" asked Draco, frowning at her. All evidence that they'd kissed earlier was completely gone.

She shook her head, snapping out of her feelings. "Nothing," She tried to smile convincingly, but Draco wasn't stupid. He could see through shit like that. "I'm just… missing Harry and Ron," She said- and that wasn't a _total_ lie. Of course she missed them. It just wasn't the _exact_ truth.

Draco bobbed his head once, his appearance turning sour as soon as he'd heard those names. They kind of reminded him, by electrocuting his veins, that Granger was one of them. And they were horrible.

But she wasn't…

Only they were.

"Do you miss Blaise?" asked the brunette, and since she sounded genuinely curious, he answered her.

He exhaled. "All the time," He replied honestly. She smiled a little at his answer, as it proved he did indeed own a heart, and then looked back out to the water.

"You're really close, aren't you?" asked Hermione. Draco wondered why the hell she was asking him things, but didn't really ignore her, and didn't want to either.

"We've been friends since before we were born. 'Close' is a bit of an understatement," He said to her, chuckling as he imagined them as five year olds. "Our parents are friends," He explained when she frowned in confusion at him.

She nodded in understanding and then smacked her lips. "It's nice that you have each other," She told him. "Because… you know… I know a lot of Slytherin's didn't come back this year,"

He raised an eyebrow and snorted. "No bloody wonder. I wouldn't like to come back either if I'd decided to get the dark mark and then the light side ended up winning,"

"So then why did you come back?" She asked bluntly and interestedly.

He looked a little offended, and furrowed his eyebrows at her. "To finish my education…?" replied Draco in a kind of 'duh, that was obvious' tone.

She blinked a few times and then frowned. "But weren't you… I mean… don't you have… the-

"No, I fucking don't," He said harshly, breathing a little fast. He looked away and blinked in shock, then looking back at her. "How the fuck could you even think that?"

"I didn't mean it as an insult!" She said quickly. "I just assumed-

"Well you assumed wrong, didn't you?!" He snapped, getting up. He looked down at her as if he didn't want to believe what she'd just asked him. "Just because my parents are death eaters, just because I'm in Slytherin, and just because I'm cruel doesn't mean I'd fucking give up my life for a pathetic little boy who got mixed up in dark magic. Jesus," He ran his fingers harshly through his hair. "I can't believe you even thought that about me. I thought you weren't judgmental?"

She hurried to convince him that she didn't mean it in a bad way. "I'm not-

"YES," He barked. "You are. You fucking are," He shook his head and turned, walking away from her with long, loud strides. He stamped his feet and he knew it was childish, but she had to know how angry that had made him. She _always _jumped to conclusions.

Hermione watched his back as he left. She honestly hadn't meant to insult him, but she couldn't overlook the massive amount of relief that she'd been feeling, and the tiny feeling of victory. She had worried, a little, about if he was a death eater, and what she would do if one night, he decided to go all-death-eater-psychopath and kill her, but now she didn't have to worry about that. She also felt a little triumphant because she'd told Harry that he was being ridiculous when the raven haired boy presumed Draco had become a death eater.

She felt guilty and bad as well, obviously, but the knowledge that he'd contained enough common sense to not only not get the dark mark, but _refuse_ it was so refreshing. It filled her with hope again, and although she warned herself not to, it just felt so good to know that her predictions of him were correct. He wasn't a pushover and although he was an egoist, he still done what was best for himself, and he'd chosen the right thing- the right _side. _

But now he was angry at her… again. She decided that she'd apologise to him tomorrow. If she ran after him right now, he'd just get the impression that he could walk all over the top of her and he couldn't. Plus, it would give him time to calm down, and he probably needed that after what she'd said to him.

He chewed her lip as she thought of something to do whilst he was gone and before bedtime, and then she spotted the telescope, messily turned on its side. She'd dropped it when they'd arrived. Draco's wound had been… more important.

She crawled over to it and lay on her stomach, closing one brown eye over so that she could press the other one up to the lens. After adjusting it a bit, she decided she'd try when it was darker. It was too light right now, and although it would darken rapidly in probably around fifteen minutes, there was no point looking for stars in a bright blue denim sky. She would just sit with her thoughts until it had dimmed.

* * *

She was such a bitch! Okay, she wasn't, but what she'd said to him was angry enough to make him call her that. She'd bloody made that speech to him the other day about not being judgmental and then there she goes, breaking her own rule and judging him! It wasn't _his_ fault that he had grown up in a family where they all happened to be fuck heads to follow a dark lord. It wasn't his fault that he was the only sensible one, and he didn't appreciate when people brought it up, especially when they had no idea about what even _really_ happened.

He probably should've told her at some point, but he didn't think the war would've come up in their conversations and when he was proven right, he just decided… not to. Plus, he never thought, in a million years, that she would ask him _that_, and right after he'd been nice to her! Did she even notice how bad it was that he admitted that she was pretty? Did she?! No. No, she didn't.

Okay, so it wasn't _all_ bad. It was bad for him, yes, it proved that he enjoyed her company (maybe) and that she was pretty (maybe.) But for her it had probably been good. Pansy had waited years on him admitting that she was pretty and if he was completely truthful, it had never came to him. Nope, not once had he ever looked at her and thought to himself 'wow, she's pretty' Astoria Greengrass, yes, because she was known for her good looks (although she wasn't really his type) but Pansy compared to Astoria… no contest.

Granger against Astoria and Pansy… no contest again.

She'd beat them both.

He groaned.

Would he ever stop thinking about her like this? He highly doubted it. Once his mind had seen the good in a person, he didn't doubt it. And she had really good looks, if he was, again, honest. Her wavy brown hair was just that- more wavy than curly now, so he couldn't even call her bushy-haired or anything. Her eyes were the same brown they'd always been, but with her hair back (and she pulled it back most days) they seemed to stand out. In fact, he kind of liked it when her hair was up. He liked seeing her whole face, not covered by her hair. He also kind of enjoyed seeing her neck and ears. They were slim and her collarbones were, well, to put it frankly, a turn on. He didn't like bony girls, but one thing he did like was collarbones. Not protruding ones, just… slightly enhanced ones.

Anyways, point was, she was one attractive young woman, and he'd already seen her half-naked! So now, where did this leave him? She'd started off with a bad personality and bad looks, then her personality became good, and now her looks were becoming good. What the hell was going on? He hoped to God that he wasn't going to be attracted to her permanently. That would put them both in danger, especially in a competition like this. If any of the other teams got _any_ notion that they were interested in each other, it could make them weak.

Because what were friends? They were weaknesses.

According to his father, anyways. He wasn't sure he had the same process as dear daddy now.

He closed his eyes and lolled his head to the side- he was leaning against another tree now, in front of the waterfall he'd once watched her at. He would sleep there tonight. He didn't want to go back; he just wanted to forget about what she'd said to him.

* * *

**_DAY TEN_**

It was brighter when she woke up. She'd watched the stars last night, which constantly reminded her of Draco and the things she'd said to him. Over time, the feeling of relief gradually washed away and it was replaced with remorse. She had to find him today, and apologise. It wasn't nice to assume that just because someone's parents had made bad choices that their son would as well.

She made sure that she looked presentable by conjuring a mirror and putting her hair up in a messy bun. She didn't know why she'd done that- she'd never felt the need to look… well, nice, in front of Malfoy before, but this time, she kind of did. He'd called her pretty yesterday, and she felt like she wanted to prove that she was pretty to him. Hey, she was still a teenage girl.

She changed her t-shirt as well, swapping from dark purple to dark blue. There was a v-line at the top that showed off her neck- in fact, all of the t-shirts had V-necks, she realised. Maybe that was so that they wouldn't sweat a lot or something.

She laced up her heavy black boots and went walking in the same direction that he had last night, looking everywhere until after ten minutes, she noticed a small shadow in the waterfall. She walked closer, dodging and slipping on rocks as she went. Her movements were steadier as she came to a small pebbled bit and then she stepped up onto the huge rocks that were finally actually _underneath _the waterfall. She'd showered here once, and it had been kind of nice. It was cool that he'd found the same place.

She shouted his name, but he didn't hear her. He was quite far away, leaning against a rock with his eyes closed, as if he was thinking, or maybe even sleeping. His hair was wet and fell across his forehead in an untidy manner, varnishing it a darker shade of white-blonde. His shirt was still missing, and his muscular arms were covered in droplets of water. She tried not to look at his stomach. Thank goodness he still had his jeans on.

She wouldn't be able to speak to him without getting wet, so she'd wasted time putting her hair up and making sure that she looked appealing to him. With a heavy sigh, she stepped underneath, getting soaked immediately. The water clung to strands of her hair, plastering them to her forehead and cheekbones.

When she finally reached him, she didn't bother shouting his name. He seemed to be in some sort of trance, so she laid her hand on his shoulder softly, trying not to alert him. His eyes opened and amber met silver, momentarily hypnotised.

He pushed off of the rocky wall and turned to her, frowning and wondering why she was here. It was loud and they were both absolutely drenched. Not one part of either of them was dry.

"Draco, I'm sorry," She shook her head, frowning in guilt. He nodded once, but didn't say anything back, slightly shocked that she'd called him by his first name. He had a feeling she was going to continue, and then she did.

"I shouldn't have assumed that about you… it wasn't very nice of me, and we were getting along really well," She half-shouted over the noise of the sloshing water. He nodded; indicating that he'd heard her and squinted his eyes as water threatened to blur them.

She licked her lips, even though they were wet with water from the waterfall. "Can you forgive me?" asked Hermione, looking up at him.

He took in a deep breath before nodding, reigning reluctance though. He couldn't have her thinking that she could get whatever she wanted from him, whenever she wanted.

A small smile took over her face and she rubbed her lips together, looking at him with contemplation. After a few seconds of obvious thinking, she raised her arms and tiptoed, shoving her chin over his shoulder. He leaned his chin on her shoulder in reply, but didn't quite know what to do with his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck. He'd never… received a hug before.

Copying what he'd observed other people do, he slowly brought his own arms up and wrapped them around her ribs, rather high up. She was so small and even though he had rather long arms, he couldn't reach much further down. He kept his eyes open and wondered if hers were open- were they? He had a feeling that they were closed, but he couldn't even close his eyes to revel in the moment of his first cuddle. He was in too much shock. His first hug and it had come from Hermione Granger.

And he bloody enjoyed it, even though his mind was still rather hazy about what exactly was going on. All he really could record was that they both had their arms wrapped around each other.

Despite the rather cold water (damn him for not listening to her and heating it with a charm) his whole body was on fire. He felt warm inside as well, as if there was a flame burning in his tummy. When she started to pull away, it was still there, and he was left questioning what it was, and what it meant.

She smiled at him with huge shining eyes when she let go, and with her dark, wet hair and warm cinnamon-y eyes, he could only think one thing,

_Fuck pretty... she's the most beautiful person I've ever met. _

* * *

Thank you: XDramioneLoverx, Ms Louis Cordice Zabini, roseberrygirl, littlelam56, SlytherinGurrl, dramioneloverxox11, lovesick and breathless, superstarem, Calimocho, fantasia-49, Ash and Blue21 for reviewing the last chapter!

**roseberrygirl: **Ah, this is so hard to answer because of something I'm going to reveal in later chapters... I can't _directly_ answer your question, but I can remind you of what Dumbledore told Hermione: everything in the place they are in is an illusion. That might give you an idea of what's happening/what's going to happen :P I'm sorry I couldn't completely answer you, thank you so much for your review! It would have freaked me out too!

**SlytherinGurrl: **Indeed! I don't think I'm going to make them realise it for a _long_ while, and at the beginning of their kind of "official romance" it's going to be one-sided. :3 Care to guess who will fall in love with who first? Haha! I eagerly await your review! Thanks for your kind words lovely!

**dramioneloverxox11: **They _do_ come up again, but they don't have a massive role. They'll be back for a later chapter, possibly even two chapters, but I don't think they're going to be big enough characters that they'll develop names, you know what I mean? :P Thank you for your review! Hugs.

**lovesick and breathless: **Draco is a lot more playful in this chapter (maybe even a little _too_ playful) so I hope you enjoy it! I imagine Draco didn't stop her for two reasons: number one being that he didn't want them to fail the task and ultimately the competition, and the other because a part of him _wanted_ her to know what he'd been through. Draco has a bit of trouble wording his thoughts and explained in an earlier chapter that even at a psychology session, he just didn't say anything. We're going to look more into Draco's anger management and how he eventually got over it (although some of it _is_ still there) so don't worry! It will be addressed :P thank you for your review!

**Calimocho:** Haha, I know! I would probably collapse in fear if I saw my name on a gravestone! And of course, I plan on making the challenge around two/three weeks, so around... another twelve or so chapters will be spent on the challenge. Afterwards, when they go back to Hogwarts, it will probably be for around five chapters or so, maybe even fewer! I hope the length doesn't put anyone off, haha! Thank you for your review! :)

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm kind of nervous about putting it up...

Just a little note: is anyone going to watch that new thing that Daniel Radcliffe is in? **A young doctors handbook **or something? I think I will, the trailer looks hilarious! I 've always loved Dan, he's one of my favourite actors!

**-FallenForTheDraco**


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